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Thermal hydrolysis is revolutionizing wastewater treatment.Current treatment methods have evolved little since pioneering work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Subsequently, most wastewater treatment plants are not designed to meet modern drivers such as energy conservation and nutrient recovery.

Protoplasts are microbial or vegetable cells lacking a cell wall. These can be obtained from microalgae by an enzymatic hydrolysis process in the presence of an osmotic stabilizer. In general, protoplasts are experimentally useful in physiological, geneticand bio-chemical studies, so their acquisition and fusion will continue to be an active research area in modern biotechnology. The fusion of protoplasts in microalgae constitutes a tool for strain improvement because it allows both intra and interspecific genetic recombina-tion, resulting in organisms with new or improved characteristics of industrial interest. In this review we briefly describe themethod-ology for obtaining protoplasts, as well as fusion methods and the main applications of microalgal platforms.

Mushrooms have been long valued as tasty and nutritional foods for human beings and assumed to contain beneficial fibres, so the objective of this study was to analyse 20 species of wild growing edible mushrooms for their total dietary fibre (TDF), insoluble dietary fibre (IDF), and soluble dietary fibre (SDF) contents. The TDF, IDF, and SDF contents ranged between 24-37, 12-21, and 2-4 g/100 g dry weight, respectively. The SDF as % of TDF was low in Phellinus florida (5.5%) and Phellinus rimosus (5.8%), and high in Sparassis crispa, Lentinus squarrulosus, and Lactarius sanguifluus (12.5%). Interestingly, the majority of the mushrooms had 10-11% of TDF as SDF. The TDF was high in Pleurotus djamor (37%) Cantharellus cibarius, Cantharellus clavatus, and Phellinus florida (36%), and low in Lactarius sanguifluus (24%). Also, the majority of mushrooms had average 31.6% TDF and 2.85% SDF. These results indicate that mushrooms such as Sparassis crispa, Lentinus squarrulosus, Lentinus delicious, and Cantharellus clavatus are rich sources of TDF and SDF.

This study focuses on the analysis and characterisation of anthocyanins from mulberry pigment. The fresh mulberry fruits were extracted with the solvent of 95% alcohol/0.1% HCl (1:1) at room temperature for 4 h in the dark. After the isolation using C-18 column, the pigment was identified with UV-visible spectroscopy, HPLC-PAD, LC-MS, and 1HNMR. The results showed that the abundant anthocyanins in mulberry pigment are cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside (60%) and cyanidin 3-O-glucoside (38%). The minor anthocyanins (totally 2%) are pelargonidin 3-O-glucoside and pelargonidin 3-O-rutinoside.

Beta-galactosidase is an important industrial enzyme in the hydrolysis of milk and whey lactose. The enzymatic hydrolysis of lactose allows to avoid health and environmental problems posed by this disaccharide. In addition, this enzyme catalyses the formation of galacto-oligosaccharides, which are prebiotic additives for the so-called-healthy foods. Beta-galactosidase is one of the relatively few enzymes that have been used in large-scale processes in both free and immobilised forms. This article presents a review of recent trends in immobilisation of beta-galactosidase and their application in food industry.

Polyphenols, including extractable polyphenols (EPP) and non-extractable polyphenols (NEPP), are natural and secondary metabolic substances in plants that have beneficial properties to human health. However, NEPP associated with dietary fiber and protein are not taken into account in most literature data. In this paper, NEPP were released from blueberries with acid or alkaline hydrolysis methods, and the related extraction conditions were determined and optimised by response surface methodology (RSM). The results showed that NEPP yield obtained with alkaline hydrolysis was much higher than that obtained with acid treatment. The NEPP yield in alkaline hydrolysis process was significantly affected by the NaOH concentration and liquid/solid ratio, while in the acid hydrolysis process, the NEPP yield was significantly affected by the temperature, time and liquid/solid ratio. The second order polynomial models were developed for predicting NEPP content in blueberries. The optimisation of the extraction process of NEPP in blueberries would provide a good idea and basis for the application of non-extractable fractions.

The potential contribution of mechanical disruption by ultrasonics and endogenous proteolytic enzymes on the tenderisation of hen muscle were investigated. The importance of endogenous enzymes was evaluated using various specific inhibitors. Freshly obtained breast muscles of culled hens (6 groups) were treated with different proteolytic enzyme inhibitors and/or ultrasonics, each group was treated with different methods, and then stored at 4 deg C for 0, 1, 3, and 7 days. Shear force decreased by 1.19 kg, and shear force and cooking loss were reduced by 0.69 kg and 4.27%, respectively, in the incorporated group treatment. The calpastatin activity was affected by almost all treatments. Our results suggest that ultrasonics and endogenous proteases contributed to muscle degradation, thereby improving hen meat tenderness and decreasing the cooking loss. Muscle degradation, tenderness, and water-retaining properties of hens were improved by a combination of ultrasound and exogenous proteolytic enzyme inhibitors.

This study concerns the application of enzymatic hydrolysis to modifying starchy and cellulosic materials. Corn, cassava, upright elephant ear and sugarcane bagasse were used in order to evaluate the influence of the enzymatic hydrolysis over the structural, thermal stability and crystallinity of these materials. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was used to evaluate the thermal properties while Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) methods were used for the structural and morphological analysis. Corn presented the highest starch yield (g of starch/g of raw material) with 40.4%. For all materials used, the crystallinity increased due to enzymatic hydrolysis suggesting that amorphous zones are attacked first. The gelatinization temperature of the starches increased as the crystallinity increased. The granules and fibers, except for upright elephant ear starch, did not change their size with enzymatic treatment and the superficial area did not increase significantly with the enzymatic treatment.

In this study, the optimization of the major factors for efficient dilute acid pretreatment (DAP) of Korean barley straw was conducted by response surface method (RSM). In addition, saccharification of the optimized pretreated barley straw as well as fermentation of solubilized hemicellulose and enzymatic hydrolysates was performed for bioethanol production. The factors optimized by RSM were concentration of sulfuric acid, reaction time and temperature. Optimization experiments were carried out within the scope of 0.16 ~ 1.84% sulfuric acid, 10 similar to 20 min of reaction time, and 116 ~ 183℃ of temperature using a statistical program, and optimal conditions (1.16% of sulfuric acid, 16.9 min of reaction time, and 150℃) were determined based on reliable statistical indicators. The predicted value at stationary point and the experimental value were 81.38 and 80.66%, respectively. Saccharification was performed at 50℃ using Celluclast (cellulase) and Novozyme 188 (β-glucosidase) as biocatalysts in an enzyme loading test. Conversion of the saccharification process was approximately 65%. In addition, fermentation of glucose after saccharification and solubilization of xylose solution by DAP were performed using Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia stipitis at 30℃ and 200 rpm for 12 h.

Mineral acids have been used effectively for the pretreatment of cellulosic biomass to improve sugar recovery and promote its conversion to ethanol; however, substantial capital investment is required to enable separation of the acid, and corrosion-resistant materials are necessary. Disposal and neutralization costs are also concerns because they can decrease the economic feasibility of the process. In this work, three acid-functionalized nanoparticles were synthesized for pretreatment and hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass. Silica-protected cobalt spinel ferrite nanoparticles were functionalized with perfluoroalkylsulfonic acid (PFS), alkylsulfonic acid (AS), and butylcarboxylic acid (BCOOH) groups. These nanoparticles were magnetically separated from the reaction media and reused. TEM images showed that the average diameter was 2 nm for both PFS and BCOOH nanoparticles and 7 nm for AS nanoparticles. FTIR confirmed the presence of sulfonic and carboxylic acid functional groups. Ion exchange titration measurements yielded 0.9, 1.7, and 0.2 mmol H+/g of catalyst for PFS, AS, and BCOOH nanoparticles, respectively. Elemental analysis results indicated that PFS and AS nanoparticles had 3.1 and 4.9% sulfur, respectively. Cellobiose hydrolysis was used as a model reaction to evaluate the performance of acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for breaking β-(1→4) glycosidic bonds. Cellobiose conversion of 78% was achieved when using AS nanoparticles as the catalyst at 175℃ for 1 h, which was significantly higher than the conversion for the control experiment (52%). AS nanoparticles retained more than 60% of their sulfonic acids groups after the first run, and 65 and 60% conversions were obtained for the second and third runs, respectively.