Improvement of biohythane production from Chlorella sp. TISTR 8411 biomass by co-digestion with organic wastes in a two-stage fermentation

The suitability of molasses, Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), empty fruit bunches (EFB), palm oil mill effluent (POME), and glycerol waste as a co-substrate with Chlorella sp. TISTR 8411 biomass for biohythane production was investigated. Mono-digestion of Chlorella biomass had hydrogen and methane yield of 23–35 and 164–177 mL gVS⁻¹, respectively. Co-digestion of Chlorella biomass with 2–6% TS of organic wastes was optimized for biohythane production with hydrogen and methane yield of 17–75 and 214–577 mL gVS⁻¹, respectively. The hydrogen and methane yield from co-digestion of Chlorella biomass with molasses, POME, and glycerol waste was increased by 8–100% and 80–264%, respectively. The biohythane production of co-digestion of Chlorella was 6–11 L L-mixed waste⁻¹ with an optimal C/N ratio range of 19–41 and H₂/CH₄ ratio range of 0.06–0.3. Co-digestion of Chlorella biomass was significantly improved biohythane production in term of yield, production rate, and kinetics.     

Selected Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains and accurate separation of distillate fractions reduce the ethyl carbamate levels in alembic cachaças

Ethyl carbamate (EC) is a potentially toxic compound that may be present at concentrations above maximum limits established in alcoholic beverages, such as cachaça. Most traditional alembic cachaça is produced on a small scale using empirical knowledge. The fermentation step is conducted using yeasts that are endogenous to the sugar cane, and the distillation process is relatively uncontrolled. In this study, gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry was used to determine the EC levels in distillate musts and fractions produced by spontaneous or selected Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. The aim was to verify the influence of selected strains as starters for fermentation compared with spontaneous fermentation on EC formation. The distillate fractions from these two production processes were also analysed. Our results demonstrated higher levels of EC (which surpass the limits defined by Brazilian law) in cachaças produced by spontaneous fermentation (50%) compared with the selected strains (30%); and the distillation step showed great contribution for the reduction of the compound. From must to distillate fractions we found an average decrease on EC levels of 62% using selected strains and 44% for the spontaneous fermentation. In addition, careful separation of the distillation fractions was crucial for producing high-quality and safe beverages.     

低聚木糖的模拟移动床色谱分离研究

研究了用模拟移动床色谱分离高含量低聚木糖的工艺。首先通过单柱固定床实验来选择适合低聚木糖分离的固定相,比较了不同类型的离子交换树脂对低聚木糖和单糖混合液的分离度和分离效率．筛选出DIAION—UBK530Na树脂为合适的分离介质;然后运用真实移动床模型,近似确立模拟移动床色谱分离工艺的初始操作参数．在理论分离原理的指导下,优化分离条件,在阀切换时间为300s、进料流量和洗脱流量分别为3．5mL／min和5ml/min、提取液和提余液流量分别为3．8mL／min和4．7mL／min、同时循环流量控制在8．9mL／min的条件下．使分离后的低聚木糖、单糖纯度均在90％以上,收率分别达到91．55％和92．18％。     

Trace metals supplementation enhanced microbiota and biohythane production by two-stage thermophilic fermentation

The effect of trace metals supplementation into palm oil mill effluent on biohythane production and responsible microbial communities in thermophilic two-stage anaerobic fermentation was investigated. High biohythane yields were linked to Ni/Co/Fe supplementation (10, 6 and 20 mg L⁻¹, respectively) with maximum H₂ and CH₄ yields of 139 mL H₂ gVS⁻¹ and 454 mL CH₄ gVS⁻¹, respectively. The Ni/Co/Fe supplementation resulted in higher numbers of Bacillus sp., Clostridium sp. and Thermoanaerobacterium sp. together with increasing hydrogenase expression level leading to increasing hydrogen yields of 90.4%. The numbers of Methanosarcina, Methanomassiliicoccus, and Methanoculleus were enhanced by Ni/Co/Fe addition, accompanied by 21.7% higher methane yields. No correlation between methyl coenzyme-M reductase expression level and methane yields was observed. The Ni/Co/Fe supplementation improved gas production in the two-stage biohythane process via enhancing a number of viable hydrogen-producing bacteria together with hydrogenase activity in H₂ stage and enhancing number methanogens in the CH₄ stage.     

Effects of combined high-pressure and heat treatment on the textural properties of soya gels

SPI, 7S, and 11S globulin at 12% (w/v) protein concentration, at neutral pH, did not form gels when heat-treated (90 °C, 15 min) or when high pressure-treated (300–700 MPa), except for the 11S, which formed a gel when heat-treated. The combination of heat and pressure (that is heating the solutions in a water bath and then pressure-treating at room temperature or the reverse sequence), led to differences: when heat-treatment was before high-pressure treatment, only the 11S fraction formed a self-standing gel; however, when the solutions were pressurised before heat treatment, all the proteins formed self-standing gels. The textural and water-holding properties were measured on the gels formed with the three different soy proteins.     

红曲米醋制曲过程中微生物群落演替及其对生化指标的影响

通过高通量测序对红曲米醋红曲制曲过程中微生物群落多样性进行分析,结合红曲的糖化力、液化力等生化指标,采用典范对应分析（CCA）深度解析微生物群落演替对红曲生化指标的影响。结果显示,分别获得16个真菌属菌株和16个细菌属菌株,主要真菌有曲霉属（Aspergillus）（相对丰度为0.36%～66.79%）、酿酒酵母属（Saccharomyces）（相对丰度为14.77%～47.80%）、红曲霉属（Monascus）（相对丰度为11.28%～41.09%）,随着制曲时间增加,优势真菌由Saccharomyces、Monascus逐渐变为Aspergillus;细菌中乳酸菌（Lactobacillus）为优势菌（相对丰度为63.54%～94.98%）,且随着制曲时间的增加,呈先增后降趋势。CCA分析结果表明,真菌中Aspergillus、Penicillium对红曲生化指标的影响起主要作用,细菌属对红曲生化指标影响甚微。     

Bio-hythane production from residual biomass of Chlorella sp. biomass through a two-stage anaerobic digestion

Residual Chlorella sp. biomass obtained after anaerobic solid-state fermentation was used to produce bio-hythane. The residual biomass was pretreated using acid, thermal, and acid-thermal methods before their respective hydrolysates were used in dark fermentation followed by the methanogenesis of anaerobic digestion to produce hydrogen and methane, respectively. Pretreatment of the residual biomass using acid and thermal methods did not significantly increase reducing sugar production. However, a maximum reducing sugar content of 28.9 mg-reducing-sugar·g-biomass⁻¹ was attained using an acid-thermal method, resulting in the highest hydrogen and methane yields of 12.5 and 81 mL·g-volatile-solid⁻¹, respectively. This was equivalent to the total energy yield of 3.03 kJ·g-VS⁻¹ or 4.6% energy recovery, based on the heating value of the residual biomass.     

Photocatalytic reduction of chromium and oxidation of organics by polyoxometalates

The photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) to the less toxic Cr(III) is presented in the presence of the polyoxometalates (POM) PW₁₂O₄₀³⁻ or SiW₁₂O₄₀⁴⁻ as photocatalyst and an organic substrate (salicylic acid or propan-2-ol) as electron donor. Cr(VI), as dichromate, is reduced to Cr(III), according to the 6:1 stoichiometry of PW₁₂O₄₀⁴⁻ versus Cr₂O₇²⁻ indicated from experiments in the dark. Increase of POM or salicylic acid (SA) concentration accelerates, till a saturation value, both the reduction of metal and the oxidation of the organic, suggesting that these two conjugate reactions act synergistically. The photocatalytic action of POM is not so important in the case of highly concentrated solutions of organics that exhibit direct photochemical reduction of Cr(VI), i.e. propan-2-ol (i-prOH), while it becomes important at low concentrations of i-prOH, especially for organics that do not react directly photochemically with Cr(VI), such as SA. Increase of Cr(VI) concentration enhances consumption of SA and Cr(VI) till an optimum value, due to inner filter effect. The method is suitable for a range of chromium concentration from 5–100 ppm achieving complete reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) up to non-detected traces (>98%). The presence of oxygen does not influence the efficiency of SA and Cr(VI) consumption. In contrast to the semiconductor-based heterogeneous photocatalysis, the POM-based homogeneous process seems superior in the frame that: (i) it remains catalytic throughout illumination by providing more active sites and (ii) among the two POM used, the one that is more efficient in the degradation of the organic, that is PW₁₂O₄₀³⁻ compared to SiW₁₂O₄₀⁴⁻, is also more efficient in reducing Cr(VI), due to a kinetic effect, and a compromise is not needed.