This study aimed to assess the technique of natural fermentation by applying water kefir to the casein protein. The diverse microorganisms and their enzymes found naturally in the water kefir can influence casein's characteristics. The fermented casein's protein quality (digestibility and secondary protein structure) and composition (total soluble solids and nutritive and non-nutritive substances) were investigated. Our findings revealed that the fermented casein's protein digestibility and total phenolic content increased from 82.46 to 88.60 % and 7.6 to 8.0 mg gallic acid equivalent/100 g, respectively. In addition, their surface charge and hydrophobicity changed from -30.06 to -34.93 mV and 286.9 to 213.7, respectively. Furthermore, the fermented casein's secondary protein components, α-helix (decreased from 13.66 to 8.21 %) and random coil (increased from 16.88 to 19.61 %), were also altered during the fermentation. Based on these findings, the water kefir fermentation approach could be an effective, practical, non-thermal approach for improving casein's protein quality and composition.
Liquid Biphasic Flotation (LBF) is an advanced recovery method that has been effectively applied for biomolecules extraction. The objective of this investigation is to incorporate the fermentation and extraction process of lipase from Burkholderia cepacia using flotation system. Initial study was conducted to compare the performance of bacteria growth and lipase production using flotation and shaker system. From the results obtained, bacteria shows quicker growth and high lipase yield via flotation system. Integration process for lipase separation was investigated and the result showed high efficiency reaching 92.29% and yield of 95.73%. Upscaling of the flotation system exhibited consistent result with the lab-scale which are 89.53% efficiency and 93.82% yield. The combination of upstream and downstream processes in a single system enables the acceleration of product formation, improves the product yield and facilitates downstream processing. This integration system demonstrated its potential for biomolecules fermentation and separation that possibly open new opportunities for industrial production.
In recent years, with increasing emphasis on healthy, green, and sustainable consumption concepts, plant-based foods have gained popularity among consumers. As widely sourced plant-based raw materials, legume proteins are considered sustainable and renewable alternatives to animal proteins. However, legume proteins have limited functional properties, which hinder their application in food products. LAB fermentation is a relatively natural processing method that is safer than chemical/physical modification methods and can enrich the functional properties of legume proteins through biodegradation and modification. Therefore, changes in legume protein composition, structure, and functional properties and their related mechanisms during LAB fermentation are described. In addition, the specific enzymatic hydrolysis mechanisms of different LAB proteolytic systems on legume proteins are also focused in this review. The unique proteolytic systems of different LAB induce specific enzymatic hydrolysis of legume proteins, resulting in the production of hydrolysates with diverse functional properties, including solubility, emulsibility, gelability, and foamability, which are determined by the composition (peptide/amino acid) and structure (secondary/tertiary) of legume proteins after LAB fermentation. The correlation between LAB-specific enzymatic hydrolysis, protein composition and structure, and protein functional properties will assist in selecting legume protein raw materials and LAB strains for legume plant-based food products and expand the application of legume proteins in the food industry.
The depletion of fossil fuels has prompted an urgent search for alternative chemicals from renewable sources. Current technology in medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) production though chain elongation (CE) is becoming increasingly sustainable, hence the motivation for this review, which provides the detailed description, insights and analysis of the metabolic pathways, substrates type, inoculum and fermentation process. The main rate-limiting steps of microbial MCFAs production were comprehensively revealed and the corresponding innovative solutions were also critically evaluated. Innovative strategies such as substrate pretreatment, electrochemical regulation, product separation, fermentation parameter optimization, and electroactive additives have shown significant advantages in overcoming the rate-limiting steps. Furthermore, novel regulatory strategies such as quorum sensing and electronic bifurcation are expected to further increase the MCFAs yield. Finally, the techno-economic analysis was carried out, and the future research focuses were also put forward.
The morphology of Ganoderma lucidum BCCM 31549 mycelium in a repeated-batch fermentation (RBF) was studied for exopolysaccharide (EPS) production. RBF was optimised for time to replace and volume to replace. G. lucidum mycelium showed the ability to self-immobilise and exhibited high stability for repeated use in RBF with engulfed pellets. Furthermore, the ovoid and starburst-like pellet morphology was disposed to EPS production in the shake flask and bioreactor, respectively. Seven RBF could be carried out in 500 mL flasks, and five repeated batches were performed in a 2 L bioreactor. Under RBF conditions, autolysis of pellet core in the shake flask and shaving off of the outer hairy region in the bioreactor were observed at the later stages of RBF (R4 for the shake flask and R6 for the bioreactor). The proposed strategy showed that the morphology of G. lucidum mycelium can withstand extended fermentation cycles.
Food waste is a mixture of organic residues that affect fermentation process. Thus, appropriate parameters should be optimised to ensure high biomethane production. In this research, response surface methodology (RSM) was utilised for building models, evaluating the significance of several independent factors (pH, temperature, substrate concentration and inocula size) and determining optimum conditions for desirable responses (biomethane yield). The RSM and contour plots set the optimum working factors in order to accomplish the desired biomethane yield. Results suggest that biomethane yield can be increased when pH and temperature are increased. Thus, the main effects of parameters are pH and temperature.
Biohydrogen as one of the most appealing energy vector for the future represents attractive avenue in alternative energy research. Recently, variety of biohydrogen production pathways has been suggested to improve the key features of the process. Nevertheless, researches are still needed to overcome remaining barriers to practical applications such as low yields and production rates. Considering practicality aspects, this review emphasized on anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) for biological hydrogen production. Recent advances and emerging issues associated with biohydrogen generation in AnMBR technology are critically discussed. Several techniques are highlighted that are aimed at overcoming these barriers. Moreover, environmental and economical potentials along with future research perspectives are addressed to drive biohydrogen technology towards practicality and economical-feasibility.
Fermented foods are gaining popularity due to health-promoting properties with high levels of nutrients, phytochemicals, bioactive compounds, and probiotic microorganisms. Due to its unique fermentation process, Lactococcus lactis plays a key role in the food business, notably in the manufacturing of dairy products. The superior biological activities of L. lactis in these functional foods include anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory capabilities. L. lactis boosted growth performance, controlled amino acid profiles, intestinal immunology, and microbiota. Besides that, the administration of L. lactis increased the rate of infection clearance. Innate and acquired immune responses would be upregulated in both local and systemic compartments, resulting in these consequences. L. lactis is often employed in the food sector and is currently being exploited as a delivery vehicle for biological research. These bacteria are being eyed as potential candidates for biotechnological applications. With this in mind, we reviewed the immunomodulatory effects of different L. lactis strains.
The prevalence of organic solid waste worldwide has turned into a problem that requires comprehensive treatment on all fronts. The amount of agricultural waste generated by agro-based industries has more than triplet. It not only pollutes the environment but also wastes a lot of beneficial biomass resources. These wastes may be utilized as a different option/source for the manufacturing of many goods, including biogas, biofertilizers, biofuel, mushrooms and tempeh as the primary ingredients in numerous industries. Utilizing agro-industrial wastes as good raw materials may provide cost reduction and lower environmental pollution levels. Agro-industrial wastes are converted into biofuels, enzymes, vitamin supplements, antioxidants, livestock feed, antibiotics, biofertilizers and other compounds via solid-state fermentation (SSF). By definition, SSF is a method used when there is little to no free water available. As a result, it permits the use of solid materials as biotransformation substrates. Through SSF methods, a variety of microorganisms are employed to produce these worthwhile things. SSFs are therefore reviewed and discussed along with their impact on the production of value-added items. This review will provide thorough essential details information on recycling and the use of agricultural waste.
The intrinsic growth, substrate uptake, and product formation biokinetic parameters were obtained for the anaerobic bacterium, Clostridium ljungdahlii, grown on synthesis gas in various pressurized batch bioreactors. A dual-substrate growth kinetic model using Luong for CO and Monod for H2 was used to describe the growth kinetics of the bacterium on these substrates. The maximum specific growth rate (μ(max) = 0.195 h(-1)) and Monod constants for CO (K s,CO = 0.855 atm) and H2 (K(s,H2) = 0.412 atm) were obtained. This model also accommodated the CO inhibitory effects on cell growth at high CO partial pressures, where no growth was apparent at high dissolved CO tensions (P(CO)(∗) > 0.743 atm). The Volterra model, Andrews, and modified Gompertz were, respectively, adopted to describe the cell growth, substrate uptake rate, and product formation. The maximum specific CO uptake rate (q(max) = 34.364 mmol/g cell/h), CO inhibition constant (K(I) = 0.601 atm), and maximum rate of ethanol (R(max) = 0.172 mmol/L/h at P(CO) = 0.598 atm) and acetate (R(max) = 0.096 mmol/L/h at P(CO) = 0.539 atm) production were determined from the applied models.
This review is focused on the production of microbial lipases by high cell density fermentation. Lipases are among the most widely used of the enzyme catalysts. Although lipases are produced by animals and plants, industrial lipases are sourced almost exclusively from microorganisms. Many of the commercial lipases are produced using recombinant species. Microbial lipases are mostly produced by batch and fed-batch fermentation. Lipases are generally secreted by the cell into the extracellular environment. Thus, a crude preparation of lipases can be obtained by removing the microbial cells from the fermentation broth. This crude cell-free broth may be further concentrated and used as is, or lipases may be purified from it to various levels. For many large volume applications, lipases must be produced at extremely low cost. High cell density fermentation is a promising method for low-cost production: it allows a high concentration of the biomass and the enzyme to be attained rapidly and this eases the downstream recovery of the enzyme. High density fermentation enhances enzyme productivity compared with the traditional submerged culture batch fermentation. In production of enzymes, a high cell density is generally achieved through fed-batch operation, not through perfusion culture which is cumbersome. The feeding strategies used in fed-batch fermentations for producing lipases and the implications of these strategies are discussed. Most lipase-producing microbial fermentations require oxygen. Oxygen transfer in such fermentations is discussed.
An N-acylhomoserine lactone (AHL)-degrading bacterial strain, L62, was isolated from a sample of fermentation brine of Chinese soya sauce by using rich medium agar supplemented with soya sauce (10% v/v). L62, a rod-shaped Gram positive bacterium with amylolytic activity, was phylogentically related to Bacillus sonorensis by 16S ribosomal DNA and rpoB sequence analyses. B. sonorensis L62 efficiently degraded N-3-oxohexanoyl homoserine lactone and N-octanoylhomoserine lactone. However, the aiiA homologue, encoding an autoinducer inactivation enzyme catalyzing the degradation of AHLs, was not detected in L62, suggesting the presence of a different AHL-degrading gene in L62. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of AHL-degrading B. sonorensis from soya sauce liquid state fermentation.
In this paper, we report that pressed juice from oil palm frond (OPF) contained renewable sugars such as glucose, sucrose and fructose. By using a simple sugarcane press, 50% (wt/wt) of OPF juice was obtained from fresh OPF. The glucose content in the juice was 53.95±2.86g/l, which accounts for 70% of the total free sugars. We have examined the effect of various OPF juice concentrations on the production of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), P(3HB) by Cupriavidus necator CCUG 52238(T). The cell dry mass in shake flask experiment reached 8.42g/l, with 32wt.% of P(3HB) at 30% (v/v) of OPF juice, comparable with using technical grade sugars. The biopolymer had a molecular mass, M(w) of 812kDa, with a low polydispersity index of 1.61. This result indicates that OPF juice can be used as an alternative renewable carbon source for P(3HB) production and has potential as a renewable carbon source.
Calcium carbonate was evaluated as a replacement for the base during the fermentation of glycerol by a highly productive strain of 1,3-propanediol (PDO), viz., Clostridium butyricum JKT37. Due to its high specific growth rate (µmax=0.53h(-1)), 40g/L of glycerol was completely converted into 19.6g/L of PDO in merely 7h of batch fermentation, leaving only acetate and butyrate as the by-products. The accumulation of these volatile fatty acids was circumvented with the addition of calcium carbonate as the pH neutraliser before the fermentation was inoculated. An optimal amount of 15g/L of calcium carbonate was statistically determined from screening with various glycerol concentrations (20-120g/L). By substituting potassium hydroxide with calcium carbonate as the pH neutraliser for fermentation in a bioreactor, a similar yield (YPDO/glycerol=0.6mol/mol) with a constant pH was achieved at the end of the fermentation.
Biohydrogen production from dark fermentation of lignocellulosic materials represents a huge potential in terms of renewable energy exploitation. However, the low hydrogen yield is currently hindering its development on industrial scale. This study reviewed various technologies that have been investigated for enhancing dark fermentative biohydrogen production. The pre-treatment technologies can be classified based on their applications as inoculum or substrates pre-treatment or they can be categorised into physical, chemical, physicochemical and biological based on the techniques used. From the different technologies reviewed, heat and acid pre-treatments are the most commonly studied technologies for both substrates and inoculum pre-treatment. Nevertheless, these two technologies need not necessarily be the most suitable since across different studies, a wide array of other emerging techniques as well as combined technologies have yielded positive findings. To date, there exists no perfect technology for either inoculum or substrate pre-treatment. Although the aim of inoculum pre-treatment is to suppress H2-consumers and enrich H2-producers, many sporulating H2-consumers survive the pre-treatment while some non-spore H2-producers are inhibited. Besides, several inoculum pre-treatment techniques are not effective in the long run and repeated pre-treatment may be required for continuous suppression of H2-consumers and sustained biohydrogen production. Furthermore, many technologies employed for substrates pre-treatment may yield inhibitory compounds that can eventually decrease biohydrogen production. Consequently, much research needs to be done to find out the best technology for both substrates and inoculum pre-treatment while also taking into consideration the energetic, economic and technical feasibility of implementing such a process on an industrial scale.
In Malaysia, the amount of food waste produced is estimated at approximately 70% of total municipal solid waste generated and characterised by high amount of carbohydrate polymers such as starch, cellulose, and sugars. Considering the beneficial organic fraction contained, its utilization as an alternative substrate specifically for bioethanol production has receiving more attention. However, the sustainable production of bioethanol from food waste is linked to the efficient pretreatment needed for higher production of fermentable sugar prior to fermentation. In this work, a modified sequential acid-enzymatic hydrolysis process has been developed to produce high concentration of fermentable sugars; glucose, sucrose, fructose and maltose. The process started with hydrothermal and dilute acid pretreatment by hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sulphuric acid (H2SO4) which aim to degrade larger molecules of polysaccharide before accessible for further steps of enzymatic hydrolysis by glucoamylase. A kinetic model is proposed to perform an optimal hydrolysis for obtaining high fermentable sugars. The results suggested that a significant increase in fermentable sugar production (2.04-folds) with conversion efficiency of 86.8% was observed via sequential acid-enzymatic pretreatment as compared to dilute acid pretreatment (∼42.4% conversion efficiency). The bioethanol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae utilizing fermentable sugar obtained shows ethanol yield of 0.42g/g with conversion efficiency of 85.38% based on the theoretical yield was achieved. The finding indicates that food waste can be considered as a promising substrate for bioethanol production.
Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) with delayed yeast extract feeding (DYEF) was conducted in a 2-L bioreactor equipped with in-situ recovery using a gas stripping in order to enhance biobutanol production from lignocellulosic biomass of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB). This study showed that 2.88 g/L of biobutanol has been produced from SSF with a similar yield of 0.23 g/g as compared to separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF). An increase of 42% of biobutanol concentration was observed when DYEF was introduced in the SSF at 39 h of fermentation operation. Biobutanol production was further enhanced up to 11% with a total improvement of 72% when in-situ recovery using a gas stripping was implemented to reduce the solvents inhibition in the bioreactor. In overall, DYEF and in-situ recovery were able to enhance biobutanol production in SSF.
Malaysia is the second largest palm oil producer in the world and this industry generates more than 80 million tonnes of biomass every year. When considering the potential of this biomass to be used as a fermentation feedstock, many studies have been conducted to develop a complete process for sugar production. One of the essential processes is the pre-treatment to modify the lignocellulosic components by altering the structural arrangement and/or removing lignin component to expose the internal structure of cellulose and hemicellulose for cellulases to digest it into sugars. Each of the pre-treatment processes that were developed has their own advantages and disadvantages, which are reviewed in this study.
This work investigated the effects of the combined use of thermosonication-preconditioned lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with the addition of ultrasound-assisted pineapple peel extracts (UU group) on the post-acidification potential, physicochemical and functional qualities of yogurt products, aimed at achieving prolonged preservation and enhancing functional attributes. Accordingly, the physical-chemical features, adhesion properties, and sensory profiles, acidification kinetics, the contents of major organic acids, and antioxidant activities of the differentially processed yogurts during refrigeration were characterized. Following a 14-day chilled storage process, UU group exhibited acidity levels of 0.5-2 oT lower than the control group and a higher lactose content of 0.07 mg/ml as well as unmodified adhesion potential, indicating that the proposed combination method efficiently inhibited post-acidification and delayed lactose metabolism without leading to significant impairment of the probiotic properties. The results of physicochemical analysis showed no significant changes in viscosity, hardness, and color of yogurt. Furthermore, the total phenolic content of UU-treated samples was 98 μg/mL, 1.78 times higher than that of the control, corresponding with the significantly lower IC50 values of DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities of the UU group than those of the control group. Observations by fluorescence inverted microscopy demonstrated the obvious adhesion phenomenon with no significant difference found among differentially prepared yogurts. The results of targeted metabolomics indicated the proposed combination strategy significantly modified the microbial metabolism, leading to the delayed utilization of lactose and the inhibited conversion into glucose during post-fermentation, as well as the decreased lactic acid production and a notable shift towards the formation of relatively weak acids such as succinic acid and citric acid. This study confirmed the feasibility of thermosonication-preconditioned LAB inocula, in combination with the use of natural active components from fruit processing byproducts, to alleviate post-acidification in yogurt and to enhance its antioxidant activities as well as simultaneously maintaining sensory features.
Enterobacter cloacae is a highly pathogenic Gram-negative proteobacterium which is responsible for a wide array of infections. In the present study, the fermentation culture of E. cloacae has yielded one new oxolane compound, Rimboxo (1) in addition to three known compounds, i.e. Maculosine (2), phenylacetic acid (3) and methyl myristate (4). These compounds were isolated and characterised using extensive chromatographic and spectroscopic methods, and were subjected to cytotoxicity evaluations.