Single Cell Protein (SCPs) sources such as mycoproteins can serve as food substitutes such as meat replacement products similar to Tofu

Single Cell Protein (SCP) sources that can be derived from algae, yeasts, fungi and bacteria can be used as food supplements for animals or humans. Most targeted areas of SCP would apply towards animal feed due to the regulations and resulting screening that is required for SCP sources for human consumption. For example, microbes have to be tested for carcinogenic substances and the nucleic acid content it contains. However, SCPs are theoretically a very good source of alternative proteins and high fiber content. It is also a food source that has a low energy content meaning that it is a low calorie source of food. It is known that foods with high fiber content, low calories, low sodium & low saturated fats are beneficial for people that have heart conditions or needed weight control with food sources like these that help them lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels. SCPs are similar to other meat substitute foods such as eggs and beans that also have low calories, low saturated fats, etc. Tofu is another healthy meat substitute that can be used in a lot of meat type recipes such as substitute taco meat and turkey/sausage/beef dish substitutes. Currently on the market, there are only a few proven sources of SCPs good for human consumption. The most notable source of SCPs used as meat substitute products is from SCPs called mycoproteins as is the case with a well known product grown in Britain called Quorn^TM that has been on the market since 1985 and manufactured by Marlow Foods. Quorn is sold only mostly in certain European countries and in the United States as well. This product is made from a fungi source isolated in Britain called Fuscarium Venenatum. It took years for the fungi source to pass needed tests and regulations in order to become a food substitute source for human consumption. This fungi is mass produced on a large scale from a process called continuous flow culture.

Quorn^TM similar to Tofu, is used as a flexible meat substitute produce that has been marketed as products such as chicken pieces, turkey and beef substitute products. Other products marketed also include fish fillets, deli meat substitutes, pies and pastries and ready made meals. These products are made by compressing the mycoprotein with added protein sources such as albumin. These type of food products are also recommended by organizations for people that have type 2 diabetes, glycaemia and obeisity. In general, there also should be a demand for meat substitute products such as tofu and mycoproteins in the future, especially since these foods have the proper qualities of appearance, texture, aroma and flavor that are required of meat substitute products. In addition they help to offset the low fiber and high fat content that meat products generally contain. They are also low in sodium content and can also contain beneficial minerals such as zinc and selenium. Mycoproteins also contain the needed essential amino acids required in diets. Other sources of SCP have been found in the past but oftentimes when tested for in human subjects they cause adverse health side effects such as gastrointestinal problems, rashes and buildup of urinary uric acid. Nevertheless, several types of SCPs can grow from agricultural or industrial wastes such as Scytalidium acidophilum and Trichoderma. World organizations such as the FAO also recommend the cultivation of SCPs used as animal feed for domesticated livestock as they can be grown from waste sources such as straws, wood waste, cannery and food processing wastes. It would be beneficial if more sources of SCPs be cultivated in the future for possible use as supplements or food ingredients such as the above mentioned Quorn^TM product. Throughout the years, regulations have already been put in place to make sure that SCPs are safe food sources by passing a number of food and health regulations that have been well outlined for microbial sources. The advantages are that microbial sources of food can be grown quickly in bioreactors with the possible use of industrial and agricultural wastes as feed sources.

REFERENCES

1. "Quorn^TM Myco-protein - Overview of a successful fungal product", Mycologist Vol 18 Part 1 pgs 17 - 20 [2004] by MG Weibe

2. "Mycoprotein and Health", Nutrition Bulletin Vol 33 pgs 298 - 310 [2008] by A. Denny, B. Aisbitt, J. Lunn

Photos obtained from Picasa Web Album

KEYWORDS: Single Cell Proteins, Mycoproteins, Meat substitute foods, high fiber low saturated fatty foods, continuous flow culture, Trichoderma, SCP animal feed, SCP food supplements, essential amino acids, low energy food density, type 2 diabetes, yeasts - fungi - algae as SCP sources, agricultural and industrial wastes for SCP cultivation, mycoprotein similarity to tofu

Algae byproducts from cultivation are used in cosmetic, health and manufacturing industries

Natural compounds derived from algae have become valuable chemical components in cosmetic products as well as food based ingredients. The market need for such chemicals could be large due to the number of products these type of chemicals could be placed in. Concurrently and in the past, many of the chemical and physical properties that cosmetic based products needed were satisfied by petroleum based side products. More natural based compounds are finding their way into an increasing number of cosmetic products and are much healthier alternatives. They impart similar properties while also having a biodegradable nature and most importantly are not harmful to human health. Common petroleum byproducts such as sodium lauryl sulfate are still commonly used in cosmetic products and also have some degree of toxicity to human health. The type of compounds that could be used in health or food based products are known as exopolysaccharides and are common to a variety of algae as well as microbial species. Much research has been done to show that exopolysaccharides have excellent properties used for applications such as surfactants, stabilizers, thickeners and emulsifiers. Exopolysaccharides are excreted extracellularly from algae and microbial cells and can accumulate at fairly high concentrations in media at around a gram per liter or higher. Exopolysaccharides are already used in industries such as paints, textiles, paper and laundry products. EPS are effective agents used in manufacturing processes that contain emulsions or materials that are needed for coagulation/flocculation processes where EPS assist other materials collect and sediment to the bottom of a solution.

Cultivation conditions creating exopolysaccharides could be applied towards the industries of biofuel, bioenergy and biomaterials products. It has been expressed that spirulina could be used to produce biogas as a material used in Anaerobic Digestion processes. Spirulina could be cultivated for exopolysaccharides before its use in Anaerobic Digesters. Extraction of exopolysaccharides could also apply towards biofuel production since large amounts of algae are required to manufacture biofuels, a large amount of exopolysaccharides could be produced as well. Other possible materials that could be extracted from these production processes are the associated photosynthetic pigments called phycocyanins highly common with cyanobacteria and specific omega-3 fatty acids such as DHA and EPA commonly found in fish species also which can help with heart related conditions. Phycocyanin pigments that are commonly exctracted and sold as supplements are zeaxanthin, lutein and astaxanthin. Algae is also beginning to be used in specific pharmaceutical formulations which recover certain types of extracts for purposes such as anti-viral activity. In fact a spirulina based supplement called calcium spirulan exhibits anti-viral activity against diseases such as HIV-1 and Herpes Simples. These pigments such as lutein can also be used as colorants in foods, cosmetics or other products. In fact, salmon are often fed these type of supplements in their feed in order to exhibit a nice pinkish color that is commonly seen after harvesting. The cultivation of algae can be tied to several industries where various side products such as expolysaccharides and photosynthetic pigments can be extracted and implemented into other products or health supplements. This type of manufacturing mindset would help to offset the cost of production in such industries like biofuels manufacture.

Photos taken from Picasa Web Album

KEYWORDS: Exopolysaccharides, Phycocyanins, DHA EPA omega 3 fatty acids, lutein, astaxanthin, zeaxanthin, spirulina, cyanobacteria, calcium-spirulan, emulsifiers, flocculating agents, anti-viral supplements, algae health supplements, PHB bioplastic, algae byproducts in cosmetics

Custom Search

Further Neutraceuticals - Supplements as well as Valuable Biochemicals can be Obtained from Extraction of Various Food Processing Wastes

The food processing and beverage industry is somewhat related to human health supplements that are manufactured by various companies. For example, in the wine making industry part of the waste pulp called must, can be recycled as grape seed extract as grape seeds consitute a large portion of the waste pulp. Grape seed extract has been shown to contain healthy compounds such as procyanidins. There are a slew of other industries related to food processing which can recycle the pulp or waste and recover these healthy biochemicals to be used as further health supplements. A few other examples include the tomato juice and apple juice/cider industries. In order to produce a lot of juice either from tomatoes or apples, a lot of pulp is produced in the process. The peels, seeds and other parts of tomato pulp have been shown to contain very healthful compounds such as fibre, proteins and antioxidants as well as containing healthful biochemicals such as lycopene, other phenolics and ascorbic acid [ 1. Lavelli et al 2011 ]. Tomatoes themselves are often processed just to recover the lycopene that is sold as tomato powder extract. However, it does make sense to use the processed waste to produce tomato health extracts instead of using the whole tomatoes themselves. The tomato skin itself is said to have over 10 times the amount of lycopene, if processes were put in place at food processing plants to recover tomato skins that aren't used in products such as tomato juice, they could be used to more efficiently make tomato powder extract. The same situation exists with apple processing waste which is termed apple pomace. In fact, apple pomace itself has a lot of potential applications other than further biochemical extraction processes. It can be used in further fermentations, used to make animal feed, compost material, etc. In the context of extracting biochemicals, apple pomace may be used to extract chemicals called pectins which are used in a variety of products and which have further potential uses. Therefore apple pomace can be processed for healthful materials such as fiber and minerals as well as biochemicals which include polyphenols and pectins [ 2. Djiles et al 2009 ].

The use of citrus waste from processing, similar to apple pomace, can also be valuable in extracting healthful biochemicals. From citrus fruits, the seeds, peels and stones can be recovered and have potential value. Citrus material also contain chemicals such as polyphenols, flavanoids, fibre, vitamins, minerals and other phytochemicals. The citrus peels themselves constitute a large portion of citrus waste and are commonly processed into other chemicals (via fermentation). Other fruits such as berries also have healthful compounds known as anthocyanidins or proanthocyanidins. In general, the waste or pulp material from the fruit industry all contain healthful compounds which can be recovered and used as further health supplements or in other products. Another food processing area of interest in recovering waste material is shrimp cultivation. There are an increasing amount of inland shrimp facilities in the US, and shrimp cultivation is also increasing around the world due to receding coastlines in low altitude countries where shrimp farming can be substituted for rice cultivation. During shrimp processing the heads are often thrown away as well as the skins or tails sometimes. The processing of shrimp heads, tails and skins can recover a very usable biomaterial called chitin as well as produce shrimp hydrosylate from the decomposition of protein material. Shrimp waste can either be heat or chemically treated as well as go through fermentation with bacteria. The shrimp hydrosylate, full of proteins, could be similar to shrimp powder which is often used in a variety of Asian and Mexican foods. In fact, it has been shown that shrimp hydrosylate has a high protein content of around 80 % or more and also has a high essential amino acid content [ 3. Cao et al 2009 ]. Overall, the waste material from food processing can be further processed to bring forth more healthful compounds or other chemicals of interest that are used in our everyday products. They can be used in further fermentation processes which also produce other valuable biochemicals. Such recycling of materials such as grape or tomato waste can produce valuable neutraceuticals without using the whole fruit itself unnecessarily. Other compounds such as chitin or pectins can be recovered for biomaterials as well as recovering chemicals such as polyphenols or producing hydrosylate simultaneously.

1. "Modeling the stability of lycopene rich byproducts of tomato processing", Food Chemistry Vol 125 No 2 pgs 529-535 [2011] by V. Lavelli, MC Torresani

2. "By-Products of Fruits Processing as a source of Phytochemicals", Chemical Industry and Chemical Engineering Quarterly vol 15 No 4 pgs 191-202 [2009] by S. Djiles, V. Canadanovic-Brunet, G. Cotkovic

3. "Autolysis of shrimp head by gradual temperature and nutritional quality of the resulting hydrosylate", LWT - Food Science and Technology Vol 42 pgs 244-249 [2009] by W. Cao, C. Zhang, P.Hong, H. Ji, J. Hao, J.Zhang

KEYWORDS: Human Health Supplements from Food Processing Waste, Shrimp hydrosylate, Apple Pomace, Grape Must, Grape Seed Extract, Tomato Powder Extract, Lycopene, Polyphenols, Pectins, Chitin, Citrus peels, skins and stones, Biochemical Extraction of Food Processing Waste

Fungi and Algae Production of Ethylene Could be an Alternative source of Biobased Plastic Feedstock

Natural gas compounds such as ethylene and propylene are normally produced from natural gas liquids that are first isolated from petroleum refineries. The ethylene or propylene is then converted into plastic resins, which are the starting materials to produce common plastics such as polyethylene or polypropylene. The refineries that process natural gas liquids into ethylene or propylene are called steam cracking plants of which there are estimated to be over 40 in the US in states like Texas and Louisiana. As mentioned above, natural gas liquids must first be isolated from petroleum refineries and then delivered to the steam cracking plants. When the natural gas liquids are steam treated they break down into products like olefins, propylene and ethylene. Both propylene and ethylene produce plastics as mentioned above, however, ethylene is produced at a much higher percentage. Scientists in past decades have worked on methods to produce ethylene directly from alternative sources such as bacteria, fungi and even algae. Microbes and algae can also produce other manufacturing type gases such as hydrogen. Ethylene is also produced by plants but it is usually produced as a result of fruit ripening. Even certain common types of fungi can also produce ethylene. If ethylene is made by microorganisms in measurable amounts that are useful for the manufacture of products, they may be useful for the prodution of ethylene gas. It was found that around 25 % of fungi samples from over 200 varieties of fungi produced measurable amounts (~ 1 ppm or greater) of ethylene gas as a metabolic byproduct [ Ilag L. et al 1968 ]. Ethylene production has even been measured from soil samples containing bacteria or fungi, also in measurable quantities, mostly from fungi though [ Lynch 1972 ].

Even though many types of fungi, algae and microbes can produce ethylene in measurable quantities, it is prudent to just choose the species that can make ethylene in high quantities. Under natural conditions a fungi species can make over 100 ppm of ethylene gas [ Ilag et al 1968 ]. Just imagine what quantities could be produced from genetically engineered varieties. As with Hydrogen, microbes or algae can be genetically manipulated in order to produce ethylene in better amounts of more efficiently. Algae species such as Synechocytis have been genetically manipulated with ethylene response genes that may be similar to plant sources such as Arabidopsis [ Wilde et al 1997 ]. The amount of ethylene produced from algae such as this have then been monitored in heterotrophic conditions (minimal light). Similar growth conditions have been done with algae in order to produce hydrogen gas. In fact, algae can be grown in light or dark conditions in order to produce hydrogen. The idea of microbes, yeast and algae producing manufacturing gases such as ethylene and hydrogen is a novel concept and may be a realistic option dependent upon economics and engineering improvements. Microbes can even produce other valuable hydrocarbon based gases such as isoprene. Isoprene is usually a liquid based hydrocarbon but is also volatile under the right conditions. It is used to make products like rubber. In summary, gaseous sources of biomass from microbes may be logical alternative sources someday to help produce alternative products like plastics, with ethylene being a prime example.

REFERENCES

1. "Production of Ethylene by Fungi", Science vol 159 pg. 1357 - 1358, 1968, Ilag L., Curtis R.

2. "Identification of Substrates and Isolation of Microorganisms Responsible for Ethylene Production", Nature vol 240 pg 45-46, 1972, Lynch

3. SAME AS REFERENCE #1

4. FEBS Letters vol 406 issue 1-2, pg 89-92, 1997, Wilde A, Churin Y. Schubert H.

Photos taken from Web Album of Picasa

KEYWORDS: Fungi Production of Ethylene, Bioplastics, Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Ethylene Response Genes, Synechocystis, Isoprene, Rubber,
Algal and Microbial Hydrogen Production, Steam Cracking Plants, Hetereotrophic Fermentation

Custom Search

PHB (Polyhydroxybutyrates) from Bioenergy Plants like Sugarcane & Corn

The use of PHAs (Polyhydroxyalkoanates) also known as PHBs (Polyhydroxybutyrates - are a subset of PHAs) used as a bioplastic material may become more of a reality due to the drastic drop in prices that are payed per pound of the material. PHBs are becoming competitive with another bioplastic material called PLA (Polylactic acid). In fact, the price per pound of each material has dropped by more than four times their former price within the last 5 years. Both materials can be produced from a variety of sources, which may explain its drop in price, but they are mostly obtained from the fermentation of certain types of bacteria. For example, PLA contains Lactic Acid, which is a common byproduct of Lactic Acid Bacteria. The development of the biofuel industry may be another reason the price of such materials have dropped so drastically. Like ethanol, large amounts of Lactic Acid can be produced from the ensilage of corn stover products. Now, the use of genetic engineering may provide more quantities of the other bioplastic material, PHBs, from the leaves of sugarcane or possibly corn plants too. Researchers from the University of Queensland & BSES have been able to produce dozens of genetic varieties of sugarcane plants that contain PHBs in the leaves of the plants [ 1. EPOBIO Workshop Two 2007 ]. Genes that are able to produce PHBs in bacteria such as R. Eutropha are transplanted into plants such as sugarcane, where the material accumulates in the leaves as the plant matures. Other agricultural plants have also been experimented with transgenically using these type of genes such as flax, corn, alfalfa and others [ 2. Daniell & Chase 2004 ]. Corn and sugarcane are two of the main types of energy crops used to produce ethanol in both North and South America. The unused portions of the plant could be harvested into a resulting PHB material. Since these plants are grown in large quantities
to provide biofuels, large quantities of PHBs could be produced simultaneously.

Experiments have also been done with sugar beet plants too. Sugar beets are the other main source of our raw sugar or sucrose supply, and grows in various places across the United States. These type of agricultural residues could be utilized for this purpose. In the future, the conversion of plant crop residues into further chemicals and fuels should be more widespread not only in the United States but across the world. As these renewable resources are utilized, more sensible policies should be developed outlining the more practical usage of crop residues. Probably the most prevalent and common residue will most likely be corn stover. It already has other practical uses such as ensilage for feed and chemicals. It has also been commonly used as fodder (ie fertilizer) for the next growing season. Competition of corn stover use most likely will happen. Corn leaves could also be targeted to produce amounts of PHBs, but other uses such as further ethanol production may be more practical. Scientists at various universities have also genetically bred corn plants to breakdown cellulose into sugars that can be used in future ethanol or other chemical fermentations. Since the same genes that produce PHBs in plants are originally taken from bacteria, microbial cultivation in bioreactors may be a more favorable and practical method in producing PHBs. However, since large amounts of corn and sugarcane are cultivated, it makes sense to utilize the leaf residues for further products. Not enough information is known by the author to know whether it is practical to cultivate other types of plants for PHB harvesting. This should be an area for qualified plant biologists and scientists who work with specific species to decide.

REFERENCES

1. "Sugarcane as a Biofactory - Products from Plants from crops and forests to zero-waste biorefiniries", EPOBIO Workshop 2 - May 2007 by SIIB - Sugar Industry Innovation through Biotechnology

2. "Molecular Biology & Biotechnology of Plant Organelles and Chloroplasts : Chloroplasts & Mitochondria", [2004], Daniell H., Chase C.,

Photos taken from Picassa Web Album

KEYWORDS: Polyhydroxybutyrates, PHB, Polyhydroxyalkoanates, PHA, Poly lactic acid, PLA, Bioplastics, Energy Crops, Sugarcane, Corn Stover, Genetic Engineering, Genetically Modified Plants

Custom Search