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Palm oil is the primary source of vegetable oil worldwide, with applications in foodstuff, chemicals, and biodiesel production. Its industrial production generates a vast amount of solid and liquid wastes. The most important solid waste is the oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB), and the liquid waste generated in large amounts is the palm oil mill effluent (POME). Both are rich substrates that can be converted into valuable bioproducts; many new technological approaches are being proposed to achieve such a goal, setting up integrated bioprocesses through the biorefinery concept. In this context, this chapter aims to synthesize the most important aspects of palm oil waste reuse and its conversion into valuable biomolecules, considering the aspects of biorefinery and integrated bioprocesses. Among the most important researches reported in this field, some critical results from the Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Group, at UFPR, Brazil are presented. Highlights for the detailed characterization of OPEFB and POME; comparisons between physico-chemical and biological pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomasses from palm wastes; and perspectives of production of biofuels and high value-added biomolecules, such as nano-silver particles and beta-glucans.

The global market for mushroom production has grown significantly for edible mushrooms, mostly for the production of enzymes and other valuable biomolecules, notably biocompounds for human health. Solid-state fermentation is the most suitable fermentation technique to cultivate mushrooms, and many technological advances have taken place in the last few years, allowing the identification of new species by direct and indirect methods. Creation of strain culture collections and gene banks, development of new molecular biology techniques, and better understanding of cellular physiology and metabolism have been key factors to these advances. Moreover, the economic value of mushrooms, their important role as environmentally friendly agents has been explored in controlled processes, like composting and bioremediation. However, there is still much research to be done, and further scientific and technological advances are expected to be made, always taking into account technical, political, economic, legal, and social aspects.

Isolation and purification processes, also known as downstream processes, are a critical and costly step in bioprocesses. They are the appropriate sequence of separation operations, such as centrifugation, adsorption, chromatography, and drying, which will lead from a mixture of several components from the fermentation or biotransformation to a final product. This chapter briefly discusses the importance of knowing the properties of the molecules to be isolated, the driving forces, and the general aspects of classical bioseparations. After that, it discusses some heuristic strategies for linking different operations in an integrated process. Finally, new operations and trends in bioseparations, such as single-use systems and automation, are discussed.

Industrial citric acid (CA) production started nearly 100 years ago. CA production is a well-established bioprocess that employs parental or mutant strains of the fungus Aspergillus niger. CA production continues to rise because it exhibits versatility for many applications, primarily in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries. As a result, CA is the most produced organic acid in the world. This chapter presents important information about CA production techniques and conditions and the factors that affect the biochemical pathways and synthesis of this acid and the recovery of the product. The most important applications, the demand for CA, and the manufacturers involved are also described. Alternative solutions for CA production optimization are presented, including strain mutagenesis and cocultures. These strategies are essential for addressing the economic variability of the market, which is significantly influenced by the Chinese market and the low prices of its citrate products.

Cell disruption is an essential step in the production of intracellular products. It consists in permeating or opening the cell, and this can be done using several methods, usually classified as physical, chemical, or mechanical. Not all methods are suitable for large-scale processing, and each one has a different impact on the target product. This chapter discusses the need for cell permeation or disruption, presents the most common methods used in laboratory and process scales, highlights aspects that must be evaluated for choosing a cell disruption method, and briefly comments on the necessary steps following disruption and preceding purification.

Cachaca and rum are distilled alcoholic beverages produced in large quantities from Brazil to the Caribbean. This chapter is dedicated to showing how these spirits are made and their differences in the must production, fermentation conditions (temperature, yeast strains, fermentation schedule), and aging conditions. Many similarities and confusion between these spirits exist because of the raw material (sugarcane) and some steps of the production, but perceptible changes in organoleptic properties can show their differences. Congeners can vary greatly in function of the fermentation and aging conditions, giving each spirit its particularity.