Recycle Technology for Waste Residue in Potato Starch Processing: A Review

Recent trends in nanocomposite packaging films utilising waste generated biopolymers: Industrial symbiosis and its implication in sustainability

Uncontrolled waste generation and management difficulties are causing chaos in the ecosystem. Although it is vital to ease environmental pressures, right now there is no such practical strategy available for the treatment or utilisation of waste material. Because the Earth's resources are limited, a long-term, sustainable, and sensible solution is necessary. Currently waste material has drawn a lot of attention as a renewable resource. Utilisation of residual biomass leftovers appears as a green and sustainable approach to lessen the waste burden on Earth while meeting the demand for bio-based goods. Several biopolymers are available from renewable waste sources that have the potential to be used in a variety of industries for a wide range of applications. Natural and synthetic biopolymers have significant advantages over petroleum-based polymers in terms of cost-effectiveness, environmental friendliness, and user-friendliness. Using waste as a raw material through industrial symbiosis should be taken into account as one of the strategies to achieve more economic and environmental value through inter-firm collaboration on the path to a near-zero waste society. This review extensively explores the different biopolymers which can be extracted from several waste material sources and that further have potential applications in food packaging industries to enhance the shelf life of perishables. This review-based study also provides key insights into the different strategies and techniques that have been developed recently to extract biopolymers from different waste byproducts and their feasibility in practical applications for the food packaging business.

Study on rapid drying and spoilage prevention of potato pulp using solid-state fermentation with Aspergillus aculeatus

Effects of solid-state fermentation on rapid drying and spoilage prevention of potato pulp were evaluated. Pectin hydrolyzing and antibacterial ability of pectinase-secreting Aspergillus aculeatus and Bacillus subtilis were compared. A. aculeatus grew better in potato pulp, with highest pectinase yield of 342.71 ± 5.09 U/mL and rapid pH reduction to 3.76 ± 0.01. Next generation sequencing showed that the abundance of genera Candida and Enterobacter, which probably caused undesirable fermentation and spoilage, were significantly reduced after inoculation with A. aculeatus. In addition, fermentation with A. aculeatus significantly reduced water holding capacity from 16.63 ± 0.36 g/g to 7.78 ± 0.12 g/g, which resulted in lower viscosity and water binding capacity, and concomitantly significantly decreased moisture content from 76.05 ± 0.24% to 12.95 ± 0.19% after filtration and airflow drying. These results suggested that solid-state fermentation might be a promising technology for efficient processing and utilization of potato pulp.

Carbamation of Starch with Amine Using Dimethyl Carbonate as Coupling Agent

A one-pot coupling of starch with alkyl amine was studied using dimethyl carbonate (DMC) as the coupling agent. Although reaction occurred without a catalyst (24 h, 70 °C), different catalysts, namely, imidazole, tetramethylguanidine, 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU), and combinations thereof were investigated to improve the reaction efficiency. When 20 mol % DBU was used as a catalyst, the degree of substitution (DS) could be improved from 0.05 to 0.15 compared to the noncatalyzed reaction. When the amount of DBU was decreased to 5 mol %, catalytical activity remained, albeit with a slightly lower DS (0.09). Temperature did not have a significant effect on the DS but it could be used to alter the solubility of the product. Based on chemical analysis, the alkyl group was attached to starch by the formation of a carbamate group. As the carbonyl carbon in the carbamate originated from DMC, which, in turn, can be produced from carbon dioxide on an industrial scale, the current study provides a conventional way to utilize carbon dioxide-based chemicals in the functionalization of a natural polymer. DMC is also biodegradable and classified as a nonvolatile organic component, making it an environmentally desirable coupling agent.

Efficiency of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor treating potato starch processing wastewater and related process kinetics, functional microbial community and sludge morphology

Herein, an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor was employed to treat potato starch processing wastewater and the efficacy, kinetics, microbial diversity and morphology of sludge granules were investigated. When organic loading rate (OLR) ranging from 2.70 to 13.27kgCOD/m³.d was implemented with various hydraulic retention times (72h, 48h and 36h), COD removal could reach 92.0-97.7%. Highest COD removal (97.7%) was noticed when OLR was 3.65kgCOD/m³.d, but had declined to 92.0% when OLR was elevated to 13.27kgCOD/m³.d. Methane and biogas production increased from 0.48 to 2.97L/L.d and 0.90 to 4.28L/L.d, respectively. Kinetics and predictions by modified-Gompertz model agreed better with experimental data as opposed to first-order kinetic model. Functional population with highest abundance was Chloroflexi (28.91%) followed by Euryarchaeota (22.13%), Firmicutes (16.7%), Proteobacteria (16.25%) and Bacteroidetes (7.73%). Compared with top sludge, tightly-bound extracellular polymeric substances was high within bottom and middle sludge. Morphology was predominantly Methanosaeta-like cells, Methanosarcina-like cells, rods and cocci colonies.

Biological degradation of potato pulp waste and microbial community structure in microbial fuel cells

The syntrophic interactions between polysaccharide-degrading bacteria and exoelectrogens drove simultaneous alternative energy production and degradation of potato pulp waste in microbial fuel cells.