Simultaneous production of cellulase and ferulic acid esterase by Penicillium decumbens with rice straw as the sole carbon source

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Effects of three types of modified atmospheric packaging on the physicochemical properties of selected glutinous rice

The effect of modified atmospheric packaging (MAP) on the physicochemical properties of selected glutinous (Thadokkham-8 and Thadokkham-11) rice was studied and compared with a non-glutinous rice (Doongara). The freshly harvested/milled grains were packed in four different MAP conditions viz. control, vacuum, CO₂ and N₂ for 12 months at room temperature (23 ± 1 °C). Gas (N₂ or CO₂) was flushed in aluminum bags at the pressure of 300 kPa for 3 s and subsequently hermetically sealed. Vacuum packaging was done at −100 kPa. Results showed that ageing induced changes in the starch granules were less prominent in vacuum and/or MAP samples using CO₂ or N₂. Surface analysis showed that control storage significantly reduced the percentage of lipids and increased the percentage of proteins on the surface in all selected varieties. N₂ and CO₂ storage of TDK8 and DG slowed down the shift of properties of macromolecules and maintained the surface starch/proteins/lipids ratios during 6 months of storage. Moreover, the grains stored in vacuum maintained the lipids with lower proportion of proteins exposed to the surface after cooking. N₂ and CO₂ induced increase in pasting temperature but significant reduction in final viscosity when compared to control. The findings correlated well with thermal analysis. The in situ Thermal Mechanical Compression Test (TMCT) device cooking and texture analysis revealed that modified storage slightly slowed the ageing induced changes in the cooking quality and stickiness of glutinous rice. Among all storage conditions used vacuum was relatively the best to maintain the quality of the grain.     

Is farming a belief in Northern Ghana? Exploring the dual-system theory for commerce,culture, religion and technology

Rice production encountered several challenges, especially among rural farmers in Northern Ghana. The current debate encompasses the belief of cultural norms and religious values as the right theory for the sustainability of agriculture. The belief in abstracts is prioritised to the adoption of improved rice. This paper examined the value attached to traditional rice varieties as a result of societal beliefs, and theoretically underpinned by the Dual-system hypothesis. The finding from three ethnic and religious groups through a survey indicates heterogeneity in the results but also demonstrates the factual importance of culture and religion. This paper, therefore, proposes a new way of categorising farming; as a business and a belief and that policy stream aim at small scale, rural farmers with belief peculiarities needs to adopt cultural and religious strategies to promote adoption.     

Validation and quantification of neonicotinoid insecticide residues in rice whole grain and rice straw using LC-MS/MS

An efficient analytical method was developed and validated using a modified QuEChERS method and LC-MS/MS for the detection and quantification of neonicotinoid insecticide residues in rice whole grain and rice straw. The samples were extracted using acetonitrile and cleaned up by dispersive solid-phase extraction. Validation based on five fortification levels showed good recoveries of neonicotinoids ranging from 75% to 116 % and 60% to 105 % for rice whole grain and straw, respectively. The precision ranged between 3% and 17 %, and 2% and 10 % for grain and straw, respectively. The limit of detection was from 0.007 to 0.0084 mg kg^?1 and 0.005 to 0.15 mg kg^?1 and the limit of quantification was in the range of 0.024–0.028 mg kg^?1 and 0.016–0.051 mg kg^?1 for rice whole grain and rice straw, respectively. Monitoring of farm gate samples indicated that, out of 24 samples, 1 rice whole grain sample was contaminated with thiamethoxam residues (0.07 mg kg^?1).     

Hydrogen production enhancement using hot gas cleaning system combined with prepared Ni-based catalyst in biomass gasification

This paper investigates the hot gas temperature effect on enhancing hydrogen generation and minimizing tar yield using zeolite and prepared Ni-based catalysts in rice straw gasification. Results obtained from this work have shown that increasing hot gas temperature and applying catalysts can enhance energy yield efficiency. When zeolite catalyst and hot gas temperature were adjusted from 250 °C to 400 °C, H₂ and CO increased slightly from 7.31% to 14.57%–8.03% and 17.34%, respectively. The tar removal efficiency varies in the 70%–90% range. When the zeolite was replaced with prepared Ni-based catalysts and hot gas cleaning (HGC) operated at 250 °C, H₂ contents were significantly increased from 6.63% to 12.24% resulting in decreasing the hydrocarbon (tar), and methane content. This implied that NiO could promote the water-gas shift reaction and CH₄ reforming reaction. Under other conditions in which the hot gas temperature was 400 °C, deactivated effects on prepared Ni-based catalyst were observed for inhibiting syngas and tar reduction in the HGC system. The prepared Ni-based catalyst worked at 250 °C demonstrate higher stability, catalyst activity, and less coke decomposition in dry reforming. In summary, the optimum catalytic performance in syngas production and tar elimination was achieved when the catalytic temperature was 250 °C in the presence of prepared Ni-based catalysts, producing 5.92 MJ/kg of lower heating value (LHV) and 73.9% tar removal efficiency.     

Potential for rice straw ethanol production in the Mekong Delta,Vietnam

This study is to evaluate the potential for development of a cellulosic ethanol facility in Vietnam. Rice straw is abundant in Vietnam and highly concentrated in the Mekong Delta, where about 26 Mt year⁻¹ of rice straw has been yearly produced. To minimize the overall production cost (PC) of ethanol from rice straw, it is crucial to choose the optimal facility size. The delivered cost of rice straw varied from 20.5 to 65.4 $ dry t⁻¹ depending on transportation distance. The Mekong Delta has much lower rice straw prices compared with other regions in Vietnam because of high density and quantity of rice straw supply. Thus, this region has been considered as the most suitable location for deploying ethanol production in Vietnam. The optimal plant size of ethanol production in the region was estimated up to 200 ML year⁻¹. The improvement in solid concentration of material in the hydrothermal pre-treatment step and using residues for power generation could substantially reduce the PC in Vietnam, where energy costs account for the second largest contribution to the PC, following only enzyme costs. The potential for building larger ethanol plants with low rice straw costs can reduce ethanol production costs in Vietnam. The current estimated production cost for an optimal plant size of 200 ML year⁻¹ was 1.19 $ L⁻¹. For the future scenario, considering improvements in pre-treatment, enzyme hydrolysis steps, specific enzyme activity, and applying residues for energy generation, the ethanol production cost could reduce to 0.45 $ L⁻¹ for a plant size of 200 ML year⁻¹ in Vietnam. These data indicated that the cost-competitiveness of ethanol production could be realized in Vietnam with future improvements in production technologies.     

Simple Sequence Repeat Markers in Genetic Divergence and Marker-Assisted Selection of Rice Cultivars: A Review

Sequencing of rice genome has facilitated the understanding of rice evolution and has been utilized extensively for mining of DNA markers to facilitate marker-assisted breeding. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers that are tandemly repeated nucleotide sequence motifs flanked by unique sequences are presently the maker of choice in rice improvement due to their abundance, co-dominant inheritance, high levels of allelic diversity, and simple reproducible assay. The current level of genome coverage by SSR markers in rice is sufficient to employ them for genotype identification and marker-assisted selection in breeding for mapping of genes and quantitative trait loci analysis. This review provides comprehensive information on the mapping and applications of SSR markers in investigation of rice cultivars to study their genetic divergence and marker-assisted selection of important agronomic traits.     

The effect of biomass feeding location on rice husk gasification for hydrogen production

The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of biomass feeding location on rice husk gasification for hydrogen production. By comparing the results between top-feed and bottom-feed of the feedstock of the fluidized bed biomass gasification at the reaction temperature between 600～1000 °C and ER = 0.2, 0.27, and 0.33 without steam, the optimum low heating value was increase by 2.35 kJ/g-rice husk by the top-feed to gasifier. Although the yield of hydrogen was decreased by 42% for the rice husk gasification by the top-feed operation, the yield of CO, CO2, and CH4 were highly increased, which enhancing the heating value of the effluent gas. The study results suggested the potential route of the biomass gasification at the different feeding location.     

Impact of inorganic waste fines on structure of mullite microspheres by reaction sintering

The impact of waste composition and morphology on the properties of the mullite microstructure were studied by reaction sintering two types of siliceous waste powders with calcined alum sludge. Stoichiometric mixtures of fly ash or rice husk ash with the alum sludge were shaped into mullite microspheres by droplet coagulation. The mullitization reaction was followed by HT-XRD with a distinct difference in onset temperature. The specific powder composition of fly ash (presence of primary mullite) shifted the onset temperature to higher values as compared to the rice husk ash mixture. After sintering at 1600?°C, the mullitization reaction resulted in the same yield for both samples. Although the mullite content in the microspheres was equal, distinct differences on the microstructure could be observed. Reaction sintering of the fly ash mixture resulted in lower total porosity with smaller pore sizes.     

Improving physicochemical characteristics and anaerobic digestion performance of rice straw via ammonia pretreatment at varying concentrations and moisture levels

Rice straw physicochemical characteristics and anaerobic digestion(AD) performance via ammonia pretreatment at varying ammonia concentrations(2%, 4%, and 6%) and moisture contents(30%, 50%, 70%, and 90%)under a mild condition were investigated. The results showed that the ammonia pretreatment effectively damaged the rice straw structure, increased the soluble organic concentration, and improved rice straw hydrolysis and AD performance. After pretreatment, the ester bond and ether bond were ruptured in lignocellulose and the volatile fatty acids(VFAs) were within the range of 1457.81–1823.67 mg·L~(-1). In addition, ammonia pretreatment had high selectivity on lignin removal, resulting in a maximum lignin removal rate of 50.80%. The highest methane yield of rice straw was 250.34 ml·(g VS)~(-1) at a 4% ammonia concentration coupled with a 70% moisture content, which was 28.55% higher than that of the control. The result showed that ammonia pretreatment of rice straw is technically suitable to enhance AD performance for further application.