Solvent extraction of antioxidants from steam exploded sugarcane bagasse and enzymatic convertibility of the solid fraction

Green solvents extraction-based detoxification to enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis of steam-exploded lignocellulosic biomass and recover bioactive compounds

A novel strategy for pre-treated biomass detoxification combining emerging green solvents and low environmental impact extraction technologies was evaluated. Steam-exploded biomass was subjected to microwave-assisted or orbital shaking extraction using bio-based or eutectic solvents. The extracted biomass was enzymatically hydrolysed. The potential of this detoxification methodology was studied in terms of phenolic inhibitors extraction and sugar production improvement. The effect of adding a post-extraction water washing step before hydrolysis was also evaluated. Excellent results were achieved when steam-exploded biomass was subjected to the microwave-assisted extraction combined with the washing step. The highest sugar production was achieved when ethyl lactate was used as extraction agent (49.80 ± 3.10 g total sugar/L) over the control (30.43 ± 0.34 g total sugar/L). Results suggested that a detoxification step based on green solvents would be a promising option to extract phenolic inhibitors, which can be revalorized as antioxidants, and improve the sugar production from the extracted pre-treated biomass.

Recent Advances in the Bioconversion of Waste Straw Biomass with Steam Explosion Technique: A Comprehensive Review

Waste straw biomass is an abundant renewable bioresource raw material on Earth. Its stubborn wooden cellulose structure limits straw lignocellulose bioconversion into value-added products (e.g., biofuel, chemicals, and agricultural products). Compared to physicochemical and other preprocessing techniques, the steam explosion method, as a kind of hydrothermal method, was considered as a practical, eco-friendly, and cost-effective method to overcome the above-mentioned barriers during straw lignocellulose bioconversion. Steam explosion pretreatment of straw lignocellulose can effectively improve the conversion efficiency of producing biofuels and value-added chemicals and is expected to replace fossil fuels and partially replace traditional chemical fertilizers. Although the principles of steam explosion destruction of lignocellulosic structures for bioconversion to liquid fuels and producing solid biofuel were well known, applications of steam explosion in productions of value-added chemicals, organic fertilizers, biogas, etc. were less identified. Therefore, this review provides insights into advanced methods of utilizing steam explosion for straw biomass conversion as well as their corresponding processes and mechanisms. Finally, the current limitations and prospects of straw biomass conversion with steam explosion technology were elucidated.

Comparative study of polyphenolic compound extraction from empty palm fruit bunches and sugarcane pulp

Polyphenolic compounds have many benefits, one of which being their efficacy as antioxidants. They can be extracted from various parts of plants and from agricultural waste. In this research, sugarcane pulp, and empty palm fruit bunches from the palm oil production were investigated as potential raw materials. This study aims to determine solvents and easy-to-perform extraction methods that show the highest effectivity in regards to total phenolic and flavonoid yield and the correlated antioxidant activity. Extraction methods comprised maceration, Soxhlet extraction, and ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE); solvents that were investigated included water, 70% methanol and 70% ethanol. The antioxidant activity was measured by the DPPH (diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) method and FRAP (Ferric Reduction Ability of Plasma) method. Based on the amount of polyphenol compounds as well as the antioxidant activity, the experiments showed that Soxhlet extraction with 70% methanol as solvent worked best for palm bunch waste and sugar cane pulp, resulted in about two times higher values for total phenolic content, flavonoid content and FRAP antioxidant activity as well as extract mass (yield) compared to the results from other extraction methods or solvents used in this experiment. The antioxidant activity of the extracts as measured by DPPH method seemed also to be promising, although the trend among solvent and extraction method was rather inconclusive.

Innovative hydrolysis of corn stover biowaste by modified magnetite laccase immobilized nanoparticles

Intensive studies have been performed on the improvement of bioethanol production by transformation of lignocellulose biomass. In this study, the digestibility of corn stover was dramatically improved by using laccase immobilized on Cu²⁺ modified recyclable magnetite nanoparticles, Fe₃O₄-NH₂. After digestion, the laccase was efficiently separated from slurry. The degradation rate of lignin reached 40.76%, and the subsequent cellulose conversion rate 38.37% for 72 h at 35 °C with cellulase at 50 U g^-1 of corn stover. Compared to those of free and inactivated mode, the immobilized laccase pre-treatment increased subsequent cellulose conversion rates by 23.98% and 23.34%, respectively. Moreover, the reusability of immobilized laccase activity remained 50% after 6 cycles. The storage and thermal stability of the fixed laccase enhanced by 70% and 24.1% compared to those of free laccase at 65 °C, pH 4.5, respectively. At pH 10.5, it exhibited 16.3% more activities than its free mode at 35 °C. Our study provides a new avenue for improving the production of bioethanol with immobilized laccase for delignification using corn stover as the starting material.

In Vitro Studies of Fermented Korean Chung-Yang Hot Pepper Phenolics as Inhibitors of Key Enzymes Relevant to Hypertension and Diabetes

This study was investigated to evaluate the antioxidant activity, the angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition effect, and the α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition activities of hot pepper water extracts both before and after their fermentation. The fermented pepper water extract (FP) showed significantly higher total phenol content, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical inhibition effect, metal chelating activity and ACE inhibition activity compared to the non-fermented raw pepper water extract (RP) (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the FP showed lower α-amylase and higher α-glucosidase inhibitory activities, but the RP showed similar levels of α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Taken together, these results suggested that fermented pepper extract using water should be expected to have potentially inhibitory effects against both hyperglycemia and hypertension.

A review on lignin structure, pretreatments, fermentation reactions and biorefinery potential

In recent years, lignin valorization is commercially an important and advanced sustainable process for lignocellulosic biomass-based industries, primarily through the depolymerization path. The conversion of the lignin moieties into biofuels and other high value-added products are still challenging to the researchers due to the heterogeneity and complex structure of lignin-containing biomass. Besides, the involvement of different microorganisms that carries varying metabolic and enzymatic complex systems towards degradation and conversion of the lignin moieties also discussed. These microorganisms are frequently short of the traits which are obligatory for the industrial application to achieve maximum yields and productivity. This review mainly focuses on the current progress and developments in the pretreatment routes for enhancing lignin degradation and also assesses the liquid and gaseous biofuel production by fermentation, gasification and hybrid technologies along with the biorefinery schemes which involves the synthesis of high value-added chemicals, biochar and other valuable products.

Enhanced fish oil-in-water emulsions enabled by rapeseed lecithins obtained under different processing conditions

It is hypothesized that rapeseed lecithins may have different emulsifying and antioxidant properties in delivering fish oil compared to soy lecithin based on previous studies. The results showed that in vitro antioxidant activities of rapeseed lecithins were stronger than those of soy lecithin. Emulsions stabilized by rapeseed based lecithins and DATEM were stable over 3 months at 4 °C, whereas the creaming of emulsions containing soy lecithin started immediately after its preparation. Zeta-potential of rapeseed lecithins was higher than soy lecithin and DATEM, which partially contributed to the emulsion stability. Although the particle sizes of emulsions prepared by rapeseed lecithins increased after 14 days storage, no creaming was observed. Lipid oxidation as indicated by TBARS values suggested that DATEM was the most unfavorable, followed by soy lecithin. It is concluded that rapeseed lecithins are better than soy lecithin and DATEM in terms of emulsion stability and antioxidant capability, respectively.

Evaluation of Screened Lignin-degrading Fungi for the Biological Pretreatment of Corn Stover

The biological pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is a low-cost and eco-friendly method for facilitating enzymatic hydrolysis. In this study, strains with lignin depletion capability were screened using a high-throughput screening method. Sixty-three strains were screened out and Myrothecium verrucaria secreted three lignin-degrading enzymes simultaneously during the bio-pretreatment process. The activity levels of laccase, lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase were 6.61, 0.78 and 1.31 U g⁻¹ dry biomass. The content of lignin in corn stover decreased by 42.30% after bio-pretreatment, and the conversion rate increased by 123.84% during the subsequent saccharification process in comparison with the untreated corn stover. Furthermore, the effects of bio-pretreatment on the structure of corn stover were presented using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET), X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results showed that M.V. is a promising lignin-degrading fungus. This research demonstrated an efficient pretreatment approach for enhancing the enzymatic saccharification of corn stover.

Valorizing Dairy Waste: Thermophilic Biosynthesis of a Novel Ascorbic Acid Derivative

l-Ascorbic acid (l-AA) is an essential nutrient that is extremely unstable and cannot be synthesized by the human body. Therefore, attempts have been performed to develop biologically active l-AA derivatives with improved stability. This work presents a facile, scalable, and efficient enzymatic transgalactosylation of lactose to l-AA using β-glucosidase (TN0602) from Thermotoga naphthophila RKU-10. β-Glucosidase TN0602 displays high transgalactosylation activity at pH 5.0, 75 °C, and l-AA/lactose ratio of 2:1 to form a novel l-AA derivative [2-O-β-d-galactopyranosyl-l-ascorbic acid (l-AA-Gal)] with a maximal productivity of 138.88 mmol L^-1 in 12 h, which is higher than most reports of enzymatic synthesis of l-AA-α-glucoside. Synthetic l-AA-Gal retains most l-AA antioxidant capability and presents dramatically higher stability than l-AA in an oxidative environment (Cu²⁺). In conclusion, this work reports a new way to valorize dairy waste lactose into a novel molecule l-AA-Gal, which could be a promising l-AA derivative to be used in a wide range of applications.

A biorefining process: Sequential, combinational lignocellulose pretreatment procedure for improving biobutanol production from sugarcane bagasse

Here, for the first time, we designed a sequential, combinatorial lignocellulose pretreatment procedure (SCLPP) for microbial biofuel fermentation to reduce generation of microbial growth inhibitors and furthermore increase sugar yields. We tested this pretreatment process using sugarcane bagasse as substrate and assessed the effectiveness by analysis of biobutanol production through microbial clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 conversion. Our results showed that there were no inhibitory effects when using the hydrolysates as fermentation substrate. Under the SSF scheme, we observed the highest concentrations of butanol (6.4g/L) and total ABE (11.9g/L), resulting in a higher ABE productivity, compared with the SHF method. These findings suggest that the SCLPP is a feasible method for improving ABE production, lowering microbial inhibitor generation, and ensuring success in the subsequent fermentation process. Therefore, our work demonstrated developing a tractable integrated process that facilitates to increase biofuel production from agricultural residues rich in lignocellulose is feasible.

Ethanol production from xylan-removed sugarcane bagasse using low loading of commercial cellulase

Xylan was always extracted as the feedstock for xylooligosaccharides production. The xylan-removed residue may contain high content of cellulose and thus had a possibility to be converted into ethanol. After soaked in 12% of NaOH at room temperature overnight, solubilization of cellulose, xylan, and lignin was 4.64%, 72.06%, and 81.87% respectively. The xylan-removed sugarcane bagasse (XRSB) was enzymatically hydrolyzed by using decreased cellulase loadings. The results showed that 7.5 FPU/g cellulose could obtain a cellulose conversion yield of 82%. Increasing the cellulase loading did not result in higher yield. Based on this, bioethanol production was performed using 7.5 FPU/g cellulose by employing fed-batch fermentation mode. The final ethanol concentration reached 40.59 g/L corresponding to 74.2% of the theoretical maximum. The high titer ethanol and low cellulase loading may reduce the overall cost.

One-pot simultaneous saccharification and fermentation: a preliminary study of a novel configuration for cellulosic ethanol production

Combination of size reduction and mild alkali pretreatment may be a feasible way to produce bioethanol without rinsing and detoxifying the solid substrate. Based on that, a fermentation configuration named one-pot SSF in which pretreatment and fermentation steps were integrated was developed. Additionally, the effect of laccase on fermentation performance was investigated. Delignification was the major effect of the alkali pretreatment at 121°C for 60min. The highest glucose and xylose yield, which obtained from the smallest particle at a substrate loading of 2%, was 6.75 and 2.71g/L, respectively. Laccase improved the fermentation efficiency by 6.8% for one-pot SSF and 5.7% for SSF. Bioethanol from one-pot SSF with laccase supplementation reached 67.56% of the theoretical maximum, whereas that from SSF with laccase supplementation reached 57.27%. One-pot SSF might be a promising configuration to produce bioethanol because of 100% solid recovery, and rinsing water and detoxification elimination.

Synergism of cellulase, xylanase, and pectinase on hydrolyzing sugarcane bagasse resulting from different pretreatment technologies

Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) resulting from different pretreatments was hydrolyzed by enzyme cocktails based on replacement of cellulase (Celluclast 1.5 L:Novozym 188=1FPU:4pNPGU) by xylanase or pectinase at different proportions. Lignin content of NaOH pretreated SCB and hemicellulose content of H2SO4 pretreated SCB were the lowest. NaOH pretreatment showed the best for monosaccharide production among the four pretreatments. Synergism was apparently observed between cellulase and xylanase for monosaccharide production from steam exploded SCB (SESB), NaOH, and H2O2 pretreated SCB. No synergism was observed between cellulase and pectinase for producing glucose. Additionally, no synergism was present when H2SO4 pretreated SCB was used. Replacement of 20% of the cellulase by xylanase enhanced the glucose yield by 6.6%, 8.8%, and 9.5% from SESB, NaOH, and H2O2 pretreated SCB, respectively. Degree of synergism between cellulase and xylanase had positive relationship with xylan content and was affected by hydrolysis time.

Kinetics of enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of steam-exploded sugarcane bagasse

This work presents the experimental kinetic data and the fractal modeling of sugarcane bagasse steam treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Sugarcane bagasse (50 wt% moisture) was pretreated by autohydrolysis at 210 °C for 4 min. Acid catalysis involved the use of 9.5mg g(-1) of H2SO4 or H3PO4 in relation to the substrate dry mass at these same pretreatment conditions. Unwashed, water-washed and alkali-washed substrates were hydrolyzed at 2.0 wt% using 8 and 15 FPU g(-1) (108.22 and 199.54 mg/g) total solids of a Celluclast 1.5 L and Novozym 188 mixture (Novozymes). The fractal kinetic modeling was used to describe the effect of pretreatment and both washing processes on substrate accessibility. Water and/or alkali washing was not strictly necessary to achieve high hydrolysis efficiencies. Also, the fractal model coefficients revealed that H3PO4 was a better pretreatment catalyst under the experimental conditions used in this study, resulting in the most susceptible substrates for enzymatic hydrolysis.

Techno-economic analysis of bioethanol production from lignocellulosic residues in Colombia: a process simulation approach

In this study a techno-economic analysis of the production of bioethanol from four lignocellusic (Sugarcane bagasse, Coffee cut-stems, Rice Husk, and Empty Fruit Bunches) residues is presented for the Colombian case. The ethanol production was evaluated using Aspen Plus and Aspen Process Economic Analyzer carrying out the simulation and the economic evaluation, respectively. Simulations included the composition of lignocellulosic residues, which was determined experimentally. It was found that empty fruit bunches presents the highest ethanol yield from a dry basis point of view (313.83 L/t), while rice husk produced less ethanol (250.56 L/t). The ethanol production cost was assessed for the standalone ethanol plant and the ethanol plant coupled with a cogeneration system. Moreover, ethanol production cost using EFB was the lowest with (0.49 US$/L) and without (0.58 US$/L) cogeneration scheme.