Oscar Bedzo

Seaweed, an abundant third-generation biomass, has garnered significant interest for hydrocolloid extraction due to its unique composition. The extraction of these hydrocolloids, coupled with the negligible presence of lignin, leaves behind a cellulose-rich residue ideal for nanocellulose production—a potential that remains underexplored. Nanocellulose, known for its versatility, finds applications across composite, fibre, and medical industries. This review delves into the structure, composition, and extraction processes of seaweed hydrocolloids. It also investigates green emerging pretreatment techniques for hydrocolloid extraction, evaluating their advantages and limitations. This review further analyses nanocellulose produced from seaweed residues, focusing on treatment types, morphology, thermal stability, and crystallinity to determine optimal applications. Lastly, a comprehensive biorefinery approach is proposed, integrating hydrocolloid extraction and nanocellulose production to maximize the benefits from the seaweed industry.

This study presents a method for effective pectin extraction from the laminae of three tobacco varieties as a means of biomass valorisation. Two pre-treatment methods (cold ethanol vs. accelerated solvent extraction [ASE] with ethanol) were compared for their capacities to produce a high pectin yield. Enzymatic extraction of pectin was also tested as a green extraction procedure and compared to the acid extraction approach. The optimisation experiments revealed that cold ethanol extraction followed by acid hydrolysis is the most convenient method for pectin extraction; the optimal set of conditions for hydrolysis were identified as 90°C, pH 1.5, and 4 h of extraction. Applying these optimised conditions to the three Nicotiana rustica tobacco varieties yielded pectin recoveries of 66.2%, 57.8%, and 56.7% from the NRT63, Bakoum Miena, and NRT61 samples, respectively. Tobacco pectins were found to have a medium molecular weight and low methoxy content. These results highlight the potential of tobacco residues as feedstock for to produce pectin with dietary applications.

The production of high-value commodities from sugarcane bagasse and harvest residues could be integrated into existing sugarcane mills to create sugarcane biorefineries. Three distinctly different domains of operating conditions were optimised for autocatalyzed steam pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of these lignocelluloses, to provide sugars according to biorefinery priorities, i.e. (i) maximum digestibility of the solids for glucose only, (ii) maximum hemicellulose recovery in the prehydrolysate for xylose only, or (iii) maximum combined sugar yield (CSY; glucose plus xylose). Bagasse pretreatment showed isolated optima for each response at (i) 215 °C, 15 min; (ii) 202.2 °C, 5 min; and (iii) 215 °C, 5 min. For the harvest residues, the three domains of optimum conditions overlapped within temperatures of 198 and 200 °C, and times of 8 and 12°min, allowing for a single pretreatment condition that meets all three criteria. The practicality and robustness of the preferred pretreatment conditions were demonstrated with a mixed stream of both feedstocks.

The nature of a sweet sorghum cultivar influences the recovery of sugars from the bagasse during pretreatment. The sugars recovered are used in applications for conversion to high-value products such as alcohols, organic acids, and other fuels and chemicals. The severity of the pretreatment used plays a crucial role in the yield and quality of the sugars that can be recovered. Therefore, a strategic approach was taken to lower the severity of the pretreatment process to a combined severity factor (CSF) value of 0.48, whilst maintaining a high level of total-sugar recovery (i.e. 68% (w/w) and higher). This was achieved by screening 23 sweet sorghum cultivars for high-performance characteristics at low-severity conditions and optimizing the pretreatment process conditions. The pretreatment conditions included time, temperature, and acid concentration ranges of 5 to 60 min, 150 to 210 oC, and 0.00–0.96% (w/w) H2SO4, respectively. Cultivar AP6 was identified as the best performer, producing the highest total sugar yield of 78.17%. A reduction in total by-product formation from 4.79 to 2.79 g/100 g biomass was also observed. Three preferred cultivars selected for pilot scale pretreatment using steam explosion resulted in maximum total sugar recoveries that exceeded 80% (w/w). Cultivar selection provides an opportunity to utilize sweet sorghum bagasse that will liberate sugars at desired yields while reducing the generation of by-products by implementing low severity pretreatments.

Brewers spent grains (BSGs) represent the largest quantity of solid waste from brewing, while xylooligosaccharides (XOS) produced from BSG show promising applications in food, beverage and health products. Production of XOS from a Weiss and malt BSG was scaled-up in steam explosion hydrothermal treatment using process conditions from bench-scale liquid hot water optimisations in stirred batch reactors. Three levels of moisture (15, 25 and 32% dry matter) achieved by screw press dewatering were evaluated by varying the treatment temperatures and times. Results show the highest XOS yields (73.1%) were obtained, for both BSGs, at process condition selected (180 C, 10 min) with 25% initial dry matter content. These yields were higher than reported bench-scale optimisations (61%), but obtained using 60% less water; hence, initial dry matter content was an important variable affecting XOS yield. The pilot-scale steam explosion results provide a departing point for a cost-effective commercial production of XOS from BSG.

weet sorghum bagasse displays many characteristics rendering it a promising substrate for lignocellulosic ethanol production. In this study, the steam pretreatment catalyst, enzymatic hydrolysis and the substrate loading for the fermentation were investigated in order to maximise the production of ethanol from the feedstock. The results deemed water as a sufficient pretreatment catalyst since the SO2 impregnation of the biomass did not produce any significant beneficial effects on the yield of ethanol produced. The preferred pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis conditions were incorporated in a fed-batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process using pressed-only (not washed) WIS at a final solid loading of 13% (w/w) that resulted in the targeted ethanol concentration of 39 g/L with a corresponding yield of 82% of the theoretical maximum. Yeast inhibition coupled with significant glucose accumulation was observed at higher solid loadings of 16% and 20%. Ultimately, the sweet sorghum bagasse could be integrated into existing ethanol production regimes to improve the global bioenergy production.

Commercial production of inulooligosaccharides (IOS) relies largely on chicory roots. However, Jerusalem artichoke (JA) tubers provide a suitable alternative due to their high inulin content and low cultivation requirements. In this study, three inulin-rich substrate preparations from JA were investigated to maximize IOS production, namely powder from dried JA tuber slices (Substrate 1), solid residues after extracting protein from the JA powder (Substrate 2) and an inulin-rich fraction extracted from protein extraction residues (Substrate 3). The preferred temperature, pH and inulin substrate concentration were determined after which enzyme dosage and extraction time were optimized to maximize IOS extraction from the three substrates, using pure chicory inulin as benchmark. Under the optimal conditions, Substrate 3 resulted in the highest IOS yield of 82.3% (w/winulin). However, IOS production from the Substrate 1 proved more efficient since it renders the highest overall IOS yield (mass of IOS per mass of the starting biomass). In the case of co-production of protein and IOS from the JA tuber in a biorefinery concept, IOS production from the Substrate 2 is preferred since it reduces the inulin losses incurred during substrate preparation. For all the inulin-rich substrates studied, an enzyme dosage of 14.8 U/ginulin was found to be optimal at reaction time less than 6 h. JA tuber exhibited excellent potential for commercial production of IOS with improved yield and the possible advantage of a reduced biomass cost.

PURPOSE: Sol fraction, a measure of the free polymers removed from a ground tyre rubber (GTR) by organic solvent, and crosslink density, a measure of the number of sulphur crosslinks in the GTR, are necessary to determine whether a microbial activity causes both devulcanization and carbon degradation. The suitability of two sol fraction measurement methods to assessing the devulcanisation performance of At. ferrooxidans and a sulphur-oxidising consortium on industrial GTR was investigated. METHOD: The devulcanisation performance and the relation between two Sol fraction methods (American Standard Testing Method, ASTM D6814 and the altered method) were determined for Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (DSMZ 14,882) and a mesophilic, sulphur-oxidising acidophilic consortium (UCT-30), used to treat unleached ground tyre rubber (untreated GTR) for 30 days. RESULTS: Both cultures were able to devulcanise untreated GTR after 30 days of incubation, despite the negative impact of the untreated GTR toxins on growth performance. The sulphur-oxidising consortium displayed the greatest toxin resistance and attached cells were observed at the surface of the untreated GTR particles. At. ferrooxidans (DSMZ 14,882) increased the Sol fraction of the GTR by 1.09+-0.9% (0.46+-0.1% ASTM) without causing any polymer degradation, whereas the sulphur-oxidising consortium increased the sol fraction by 0.56+-0.82% (0.26+-0.1% ASTM), but also caused polymer degradation at the surface of the GTR particles due to the activity of the heterotrophic microorganisms. In the comparison of the Sol fraction methods, ASTM yielded smaller absolute values, but better precision than the altered method. The absolute values for ASTM method fell within the range for the altered method due to the latter's large variance. In addition, the ASTM method produced a change in sol fraction (sol) that was more consistent across the unleached GTR tested than the altered method CONCLUSION: The ASTM sol fraction method provides better precision than the altered sol fraction method, making it more likely to indicate a statistically significant difference, despite the small absolute values measured. The altered method's more aggressive treatment leads to larger observed changes in the sol fraction, making it easier to identify qualitative changes in the GTR properties. However, the higher temperature method also introduces increased variability leading to poor statistical significance of the results. Therefore, the results should not be reported without a quantification of the error.

BACKGROUND
Brewers spent grains (BSG) represents around 85% of a brewery's solid waste and common disposal to landfill is increasingly more difficult. Yet BSG is a food-grade by-product with potential economic valorization that can significantly improve resource efficiency and reduction in carbon emissions. This study investigated valorization of BSG through the application of novel high solids hydrothermal processing technology in a small-scale biorefinery, annexed to a brewery. It focused on three scenarios for the production of: (A) the sugar replacement xylitol; (B) prebiotic xylo-oligosaccharide (XOS); and (C) co-production of xylitol and XOS. Economic assessment was conducted by comparing the capital and operating expenditure from process simulations created in Aspen Plus. The process models developed were supplemented with experimental data to improve accuracy.
RESULTS
Internal rate of return (IRR) values obtained were greater than the hurdle rate of 9.7% for all scenarios when considering a conservative market price for xylitol and XOS as US$4500 t-1, yet dedicated production of XOS was economically more favourable with a minimum required selling price (MRSP) of US$2509 t-1 compared to US$4153 t-1 for xylitol. Additionally, the scenario for co-production of xylitol and XOS achieved the lowest MRSP of US$2182 t-1. By-products significantly contributed to 32.7%, 14.2% and 27.5% of the revenue generated in scenarios A, B and C, respectively.
CONCLUSION
These results provide a good platform from which to develop the cost-effective commercial production of XOS and xylitol from BSG.

Brewers' spent grains (BSG) make up to 85% of a brewery's solid waste, and is either sent to landfill or sold as cheap animal feed supplement. Xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) obtained from BSG are antioxidants and prebiotics that can be used in food formulations as low-calorie sweeteners and texturisers. The effect of extremely low acid (ELA) catalysis in liquid hot water (LHW) hydrothermal treatment (HTT) was assessed using BSG with dry matter contents of 15% and 25%, achieved by dewatering using a screw press. Batch experiments at low acid loadings of 5, 12.5 and 20 mg/g dry mass and temperatures of 120, 150 and 170 C significantly affected XOS yield at both levels of dry mass considered. Maximum XOS yields of 76.4% (16.6 g/l) and 65.5% (31.7 g/l) were achieved from raw BSG and screw pressed BSG respectively, both at 170 C and using 5 mg acid/g dry mass, after 15 min and 5 min, respectively. These XOS yields were obtained with BSG containing up to 63% less water and temperatures more than 20 C lower than that reported previously. The finding confirms that ELA dosing in LHW HTT allows lowering of the required temperature that can result in a reduction of degradation products, which is especially relevant under high solid conditions. This substantial XOS production intensification through higher solid loadings in HTT not only achieved high product yield, but also provided benefits such as increased product concentrations and decreased process heat requirements.

Short-chain fructooligosaccharides (scFOS) are nutraceuticals with numerous applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries. The production of scFOS using immobilized biocatalysts offers some functional and technical advantages over free enzyme counterparts. To investigate the economic potential of the immobilized enzyme system relative to the free enzyme system, a techno-economic comparison was conducted on three methods of scFOS production (powder and syrup forms) at a capacity of 2000?t per annum (tpa) by enzymatic synthesis from sucrose: the free enzyme (FE), calcium alginate immobilized enzyme (CAIE), and amberlite IRA 900 immobilized enzyme (AIE) systems. These processes were simulated in Aspen Plus to obtain the mass and energy balances and to estimate the operating and capital costs, followed by economic evaluation and sensitivity analysis. Profitability analysis showed that all three systems are economically viable as their associated minimum selling prices (MSP) were well below the scFOS market price of 5 $ kg-1. However, the FE system was the most profitable with the lowest MSP of 2.61 $ kg-1 because the savings on cost as a result of enzyme immobilization could not offset the additional costs associated with immobilization. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that total operating cost, fixed capital investment, and internal rate of return (% IRR) have the greatest effects on the MSP. Furthermore, the syrup form of scFOS production leads to 29% less MSP, compared to powder form. In addition, the studied plant capacities of 5000 and 1000?tpa showed 10% and 16% reductions on MSP respectively.

Jerusalem artichoke (JA) is a crop with excellent potential for application in biorefineries. It can resist drought, pests, and diseases and can thrive well in marginal lands with little fertilizer application. The JA tubers contain considerable quantities of inulin, which is suitable for the production of inulooligosaccharides (IOS), as a high-value prebiotic, dietary fiber. In this study, five JA tuber biorefinery scenarios were simulated in Aspen Plus and further evaluated by techno-economic and sensitivity analyses. Production of IOS, proteins and animal feed was studied in scenarios A and C, applying various biorefinery configurations. Scenario B explored the option of producing only IOS and the sale of residues as animal feed. Scenarios D and E investigated the economic potential of biofuel generation from residues after IOS and protein production by generation of biogas and ethanol respectively, from residues. Based on the chosen economic indicators, scenario B resulted in the lowest minimum selling price (MSP) of 3.91 US$ kg-1 (market price 5.0 US$ kg-1) with correspondingly reduced total capital investment (TCI) and total operating cost (TOC) per mass unit produced of IOS of 18.91 and 2.59 US$ kg-1 respectively, compared with other studied scenarios. Considering the set production scale, it is more profitable when the residues are sold as animal feed instead of being converted into biofuel, due to the capital-intensive nature of the biofuel production processes. The coproduction of protein had a negative impact on the economics of the process as the associated capital and operating expenditure outweighed the associated revenue.

The immobilization of B-fructofuranosidase for short-chain fructooligosaccharide (scFOS) synthesis holds the potential for a more efficient use of the biocatalyst. However, the choice of carrier and immobilization technique is a key to achieving that efficiency. In this study, calcium alginate (CA), Amberlite IRA 900 (AI900) and Dowex Marathon MSA (DMM) were tested as supports for immobilizing a novel engineered B-fructofuranosidase from Aspergillus japonicus for scFOS synthesis. Several immobilization parameters were estimated to ascertain the effectiveness of the carriers in immobilizing the enzyme. The performance of the immobilized biocatalysts are compared in terms of the yield of scFOS produced and reusability. The selection of carriers and reagents was motivated by the need to ensure safety of application in the production of food-grade products. The CA and AI900 both recorded impressive immobilization yields of 82 and 62%, respectively, while the DMM recorded 47%. Enzyme immobilizations on CA, AI900 and DMM showed activity recoveries of 23, 27, and 17%, respectively. The CA, AI900 immobilized and the free enzymes recorded their highest scFOS yields of 59, 53, and 61%, respectively. The AI900 immobilized enzyme produced a consistent scFOS yield and composition for 12 batch cycles but for the CA immobilized enzyme, only 6 batch cycles gave a consistent scFOS yield. In its first record of application in scFOS production, the AI900 anion exchange resin exhibited potential as an adequate carrier for industrial application with possible savings on cost of immobilization and reduced technical difficulty.