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Palm oil, the main vegetable oil produced globally, serves diverse purposes, ranging from cooking to the production of processed foods, cosmetics, and biodiesel. Despite contributing significantly to the economies of major producing nations, the escalating production of palm oil raises serious environmental concerns, including deforestation, biodiversity loss, and various forms of pollution. Palm oil mill effluent (POME), a byproduct of palm oil extraction, poses a severe environmental threat when left untreated. As an eco-friendly alternative, anaerobic digestion in controlled bioreactors has emerged, offering simultaneous POME treatment and biofuel generation, particularly hydrogen, with high energy efficiency. This review explores the challenges and opportunities associated with biohydrogen production from POME. Key considerations involve optimizing parameters through pretreatments, nanoparticle incorporation, defining optimal bioreactor conditions, determining hydraulic retention times, and integrating multi-stage processes like dark fermentation followed by photofermentation. This review also emphasizes the significance of sustainable practices and economic analyses in shaping the future of hydrogen production from POME, positioning it as a pivotal player in the palm oil industry’s circular economy and the global energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Técnica de la Facultad de Ingeniería de la Universidad del Zulia is the property of Facultad de Ingenieria de la Universidad del Zulia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cocoa beans fermentation is a spontaneous process, essential for the generation of quality starting material for fine chocolate production. The understanding of this process has been studied by the application of highthroughput sequencing technologies, which grants a better assessment of the different microbial taxa and their genes involved in this microbial succession. The present study used shotgun metagenomics to determine the enzymecoding genes of the microbiota found in two different groups of cocoa beans varieties during the fermentation process. The statistical evaluation of the most abundant genes in each group and time studied allowed us to identify the potential metabolic pathways involved in the success of the different microorganisms. The results showed that, albeit the distinction between the initial (0 h) microbiota of each varietal group was clear, throughout fermentation (24–144 h) this difference disappeared, indicating the existence of selection pressures. Changes in the microbiota enzyme-coding genes over time pointed to the distinct ordering of fermentation at 24–48 h (T1), 72–96 h (T2), and 120–144 h (T3). At T1, the significantly more abundant enzyme-coding genes were related to threonine metabolism and those genes related to the glycolytic pathway, explained by the abundance of sugars in the medium. At T2, the genes linked to the metabolism of ceramides and hopanoids lipids were clearly dominant, which are associated with the resistance of microbial species to extreme temperatures and pH values. In T3, genes linked to trehalose metabolism, related to the response to heat stress, dominated. The results obtained in this study provided insights into the potential functionality of microbial community succession correlated to gene function, which could improve cocoa processing practices to ensure the production of more stable quality end products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem statement: Agaricus brasiliensis (=Agaricus blazei, Agaricus subrufescens) or Sun mushroom has widespread use for potential health benefits such anti-tumor and immunomodulatory effects. Studies detected that others edible mushrooms affected renal metabolism and despite the widespread use of A. brasiliensis there are no studies that address biological effects on the renal function indices after their oral administration. Therefore, this study had as objective to verify the effects on kidney function indices after long intake of A. brasiliensis mycelium. Approach: Wheat grains was cultured during 18 days with Agaricus brasiliensis mycelium by solid state culture and used for chown formulation. Groups of female Swiss mice (20 per group) were fed during 14 weeks with 100 and 50% of the formulated feed denominated A100 and A50, respectively. Control group received formulated chown with wheat grains without mycelium. The water intake and excreted urine volume; the physic chemistry analysis of the urine and the serum levels of glucose, proteins, urea, creatinin and uric acid was determined (Meditron Junior-Boehringer, reagent strips Combur 10; microscopy and ADVIA 1650 Bayer). Results: A100 and A50 groups ingested 19.1 and 15.8% more water compared to C group, respectively. The urine and serum analysis showed that the verified parameters remained invariables for all groups, including glucose levels, which resulted in a 10% reduction of A100 group, without statistical difference (p>0.05 Vs C). Conclusion/Recommendations: The prolonged intake of supplemented feed with A. brasiliensis mycelium didn't result in indicative alterations in the kidney function indices. The preventive use of the mushroom did not show any deleterious effects on kidney; however complementary studies are necessary to guarantee complete safety; possible correlation between increase of urinary excretion and hypotensive effect reported in the literature and also studies with diabetics animals to verify an possible hypoglycemic effect of the A. brasiliensis mycelium. Key words: Sun mushroom, renal metabolism, oral ingestion, safety, INTRODUCTION Mushrooms have been used for hundred of years in oriental cultures as tea and food supplement. Agaricus blazei Murrill, renamed as Agaricus brasiliensis[1] and more recently as A. subrufescens[2]-popularly [...]

Copyright of Dyna is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellin, Facultad de Minas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Microbial activity is an integral part of agricultural ecosystems and can influence the quality of food commodities. During on-farm processing, coffee growers use a traditional method of fermentation to remove the cherry pulp surrounding the beans. Here, we investigated the influence of the coffee farm microbiome and the resulting fermentation process conducted with selected starter cultures (Pichia fermentans YC5.2 and Pediococcus acidilactici LPBC161). The microbiota of the coffee farm (coffee fruits and leaves, over-ripe fruits, cherries before de-pulping, depulped beans, and water used for de-pulping beans) was dominated by Enterobacteriaceae and Saccharomycetales, as determined by llumina-based amplicon sequencing. In addition, 299 prokaryotes and 189 eukaryotes were identified. Following the fermentation process, Pichia and the family Lactobacillaceae (which includes P. acidilactici) represented more than 70% of the total microbial community. The positive interaction between the starters resulted in the formation of primary metabolites (such as ethanol and lactic acid) and important aroma-impacting compounds (ethyl acetate, isoamyl acetate, and ethyl isobutyrate). The success competitiveness of the starters towards the wild microbiota indicated that coffee farm microbiota has little influence on starter culture-added coffee fermentation. However, hygiene requirements in the fermentation process should be indicated to prevent the high microbial loads present in coffee farm soil, leaves, fruits collected on the ground, and over-ripe fruits from having access to the fermentation tank and transferring undesirable aromas to coffee beans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coffee bean fermentation is a spontaneous, on-farm process involving the action of different microbial groups, including bacteria and fungi. In this study, high-throughput sequencing approach was employed to study the diversity and dynamics of bacteria associated with Brazilian coffee bean fermentation. The total DNA from fermenting coffee samples was extracted at different time points, and the 16S rRNA gene with segments around the V4 variable region was sequenced by Illumina high-throughput platform. Using this approach, the presence of over eighty bacterial genera was determined, many of which have been detected for the first time during coffee bean fermentation, including Fructobacillus, Pseudonocardia, Pedobacter, Sphingomonas and Hymenobacter. The presence of Fructobacillus suggests an influence of these bacteria on fructose metabolism during coffee fermentation. Temporal analysis showed a strong dominance of lactic acid bacteria with over 97 % of read sequences at the end of fermentation, mainly represented by the Leuconostoc and Lactococcus. Metabolism of lactic acid bacteria was associated with the high formation of lactic acid during fermentation, as determined by HPLC analysis. The results reported in this study confirm the underestimation of bacterial diversity associated with coffee fermentation. New microbial groups reported in this study may be explored as functional starter cultures for on-farm coffee processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Biociências is the property of EDIPUCRS - Editora Universitaria da PUCRS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Fermentation is an important step in coffee processing which promotes the removal of mucilage adhering to the fruits. This process has a direct impact on the coffee quality, and the use of bioreactors and starter cultures has been suggested for process control. In this study, a techno-economic analysis was performed to assess the investment costs and economic performance of the inclusion of a stirred tank bioreactor (STB) model and starter cultures into a coffee processing plant. The total capital investment and production costs for a 45-ton capacity coffee farm operating with 2 STB were US$ 1 million and 0.74 $/kg higher, respectively, than the conventional processing using open tanks. The main factors for rising costs included the implementation of bioreactors (73% of the equipment costs) and starter cultures (88% of the production costs). However, the modern fermentation system (STB with the use of starter cultures) enables the production of specialty coffee beverages with scores among 85.5 and 91.5, which can be sold at 15.50 and 40.92 $/kg, respectively—more than sixteen times the estimated price for commodity coffee. Thus, the techno-economic analysis showed a viable and extremely favorable scenario, providing the economic support for the modernization of coffee fermentation and to value co-creation in the specialty coffee chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]