Tsakona S., Kopsahelis N., Chatzifragkou A., Papanikolaou S., Koutinas A.A.
Agricultural University of Athens, GR
Keywords: biorefinery, confectionery industry waste, enzymatic hydrolysis, microbial oil, novel bioprocess
Food wastes are generated worldwide at significant quantities and could be regarded as a valuable renewable resource for biorefinery development aiming at the production of fuels, chemicals and materials.This study presents novel bioprocessing and biorefinery concepts based on the utilisation of waste streams from confectionery industries, which generate significant quantities of carbohydrate-rich (starch, sucrose, glucose, fructose and lactose) waste streams.Such waste streams contain high amounts of starch, protein and micro-nutrients that can be utilised as fermentation media for the production of microbial oil using oleaginous microorganisms.Confectionery industry flour-rich waste streams were enzymatically hydrolyzed to produce fermentation media with high glucose and Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN) concentrations.The produced hydrolysates were evaluated as fermentation feedstocks for the production of microbial oil using oleaginous yeasts and their efficiency was compared with synthetic media.Shake flask fermentation carried out with R. toruloides produced up to 24.4 g/L dry cell weight with a microbial lipid content of 50%(w/w.Preliminary bioreactor fermentations with R. toruloides carried out in fed-batch mode enhanced significantly yeast growth and microbial oil accumulation to significantly higher concentrations.The results obtained indicate that integration of microbial oil production in existing confectionery industries may lead to the production of an important feedstock for the chemical industry
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Nanotechnology 2013: Bio Sensors, Instruments, Medical, Environment and Energy (Volume 3)
Published: May 12, 2013
Pages: 628 - 631
Industry sectors: Energy & Sustainability | Medical & Biotech
Topic: Biomaterials
ISBN: 978-1-4822-0586-2