Rapid Optimization of Typha Grass Organosolv Pretreatments Using Parallel Microwave Reactors for Ethanol Production

Alternatives for Chemical and Biochemical Lignin Valorization: Hot Topics from a Bibliometric Analysis of the Research Published During the 2000–2016 Period

A complete bibliometric analysis of the Scopus database was performed to identify the research trends related to lignin valorization from 2000 to 2016. The results from this analysis revealed an exponentially increasing number of publications and a high relevance of interdisciplinary collaboration. The simultaneous valorization of the three main components of lignocellulosic biomass (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) has been revealed as a key aspect and optimal pretreatment is required for the subsequent lignin valorization. Research covers the determination of the lignin structure, isolation, and characterization; depolymerization by thermal and thermochemical methods; chemical, biochemical and biological conversion of depolymerized lignin; and lignin applications. Most methods for lignin depolymerization are focused on the selective cleavage of the β-O-4 linkage. Although many depolymerization methods have been developed, depolymerization with sodium hydroxide is the dominant process at industrial scale. Oxidative conversion of lignin is the most used method for the chemical lignin upgrading. Lignin uses can be classified according to its structure into lignin-derived aromatic compounds, lignin-derived carbon materials and lignin-derived polymeric materials. There are many advances in all approaches, but lignin-derived polymeric materials appear as a promising option.

Innovative physically-assisted soda fractionation of rapeseed hulls for better recovery of biopolymers

A better knowledge of the effect of non-conventional pretreatment technologies, which can avoid the use of high temperatures and detrimental solvents, is necessary.

Microwave heating enhances antioxidant and emulsifying activities of ovalbumin glycated with glucose in solid-state

The aim of this study was to characterize the properties of ovalbumin (OVA) after glycated with glucose under microwave heating. For this purpose, microwave at 480 and 640 W power levels were used for heating the OVA-glucose system in solid-state for 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 min, respectively. The results indicated that the protein molecular weight was increased after glycated with glucose under microwave treatment, the pH of the system was decreased with the increase of microwave treatment power and time, while the UV absorbance, browning intensity, antioxidant activities as well as the emulsifying activity and emulsion stability of the Maillard reaction products (MRPs) were increased in according with the raise of microwave treatment power and time. The reaction time of microwave treatment is much shorter than those using traditional methods, suggesting that microwave irradiation is a novel and efficient approach to promote Maillard reaction (MR) in dry state and improve protein antioxidant and functional properties.