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Item type:Publication, Access status: with files , Tropical agroindustrial biowaste revalorization through integrative biorefineries—review part II: pineapple, sugarcane and banana by-products in Costa RicaBiorefineries are a model for greener production processes, based on the concept of bioeconomy. Instead of targeting first-generation biofuels—that compete with food supply—the focus relies on lignocellulosic material, considering many aspects, such as sustainable fuel production, as well as valorization of waste, as an alternative to the traditional petrochemical approach of goods production. Especially, in tropical countries agricultural activities lead to tremendous amounts of biomass, resulting in waste that has to be dealt with. In the case of Costa Rica, the five major crops cultivated for export are coffee, oil palm, pineapple, sugarcane, and banana. Traditional ways of waste treatment cannot cope with the increasing amount of biomass produced and therefore, bear various challenges often related to increased pollution. This review aims to bring up the recent state of waste treatment but even more, stress potential opportunities of adding value to not used residues; thus, improve sustainability in the agro industrial sector. Part I of the review already highlighted the potential of producing promising bioactive chemical compounds by novel biorefinery concepts from agricultural waste originating from coffee and oil palm cultivation. This second part focuses on the lignocellulose-rich biowaste from pineapple, sugarcane, and banana, showing biorefinery concepts, where fuel and energy production, as well as establishment of novel products and new applications, play an important role.Publicationtype: Review ArticleScopus© Citations 10 74 112 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , 36 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: with files , Polymer-grafted 3D-printed material for enzyme immobilization : designing a smart enzyme carrier(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), 2023-07-20); ; ; One way to enhance the flow properties of packed bed reactors, including efficient mass transfer and high catalyst conversion rates, is the use of 3D printing. By creating optimized structures that prevent channeling and high pressure drops, it is possible to achieve the desired target. Nevertheless, additively manufactured structures most often possess a limited surface-area-to-volume-ratio, especially as porous printed structures are not standardized yet. One way to achieve surface-enhanced 3D-printed structures is surface modification to introduce surface-initiated polymers. In addition, when stimuli-sensitive polymers are chosen, autonomous process control is prospective. The current publication deals with the application of surface-induced polymerization on 3D-printed structures with the subsequent application as an enzyme carrier. Surface-induced polymerization can easily increase the number of enzymes by a factor of six compared to the non-modified 3D-printed structure. In addition, the swelling behavior of polyacrylic acid is proven, even with immobilized enzymes, enabling smart reaction control. The maximum activity of Esterase 2 (Est2) from Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius per g carrier, determined after 2 h of polymer synthesis, is 0.61 U/g support. Furthermore, universal applicability is shown in aqueous and organic systems, applying an Est2 and Candida antarctica lipase B (CalB) catalyzed reaction and leaving space for improvement due to compatibility of the functionalization process and the here chosen organic solvent. Overall, no enzyme leaching is detectable, and process stability for at least five subsequent batches is ensured.Publicationtype: Journal ArticleScopus© Citations 4 69 146 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: with files , Tropical agroindustrial biowaste revalorization through integrative biorefineries—review part I: coffee and palm oil by-products(Springer, 2021-04-13); ; ; ; Tropical crops are an important source of wealth in many countries. The current agribusiness model is based on the production of a final commodity, leading to the production of organic by-products (biowastes) that in many cases contain bioactive compounds with a potential added value. The exploitation of these by-products is the foundation of the circular economy that leads to the generation of greener bioprocesses for the industry with foreseeable economic improvements in production systems. This review aims to point out the idle opportunities of agricultural production systems and their associated biowastes to contribute to the establishment of a bioeconomy. Hence, the focus lies on five tropical extensive crops: coffee, oil palm, sugar cane, banana, and pineapple. This first part of the review explores agricultural wastes originated from the coffee and oil palm industrial process and is oriented on the potential use of these by-products as a starting material for the alternative obtention of chemicals, otherwise obtained from petrochemistry. The second part of the review focuses on prospective use of lignocellulosic rich biowaste that is derived from the industrialization of sugar cane, banana, and pineapple. A fundamental difference for the use of coffee biomass compared to other crops is the presence of numerous bioactive compounds that are not yet properly utilized, such as antioxidants (i.e., caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid), as well as their possible use in the manufacture of products of interest in the cosmetic (i.e., quinic acid) or pharmaceutical industry (i.e., caffeic acid phenethyl ester). In the case of oil palm, its potential lies in obtaining chemicals such as glycerol and carotenoids, or in the bioenergy production.Publicationtype: Review ArticleScopus© Citations 16 109 109 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Smart reactors – Surface enhancement for enzyme immobilization on additively manufactured packings(2020-08-28); ; ; ; Industry 4.0 is proceeding with one of themain technologies being additive manufacturing. This process enables fast andeconomic design of tailor-made structures. For implementation of additively manufactured structures in biocatalytic packed-bed reactors, a packing was designed topromote enhanced heat and mass transferto intensify the process. Still, these packings bear the challenge of low surface area,hence usage as a catalyst carrier is limitedso far. In order to overcome this bottleneck, re-sponsive polymers are investigated as surface enhancers. Surface enlargement is targeted by fixation of polymer brushes. Subsequently, enzymes are immobilizedon these polymers. Besides enlargement,the application of smart polymers intro-duces stimuli responsive behavior – coil-globule transition – as indicated in thefigure. Depending on the polymer, differ-ent triggers are possible, e.g., temperature, pH or substrate/product concentrations. Thus, autonomous process control byregulating the enzymes accessibility isprospective.Publicationtype: Conference Poster22 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Characterization of an extremely thermo-active archaeal β-glucosidase and its activity towards glucan and mannan in concert with an endoglucanaseA metagenome from an enrichment culture of a hydrothermal vent sample taken at Vulcano Island (Italy) was sequenced and an endoglucanase-encoding gene (vulcel5A) was identified in a previous work. VulCel5A with maximal activity at 115 °C was characterized as the most heat-active endoglucanase to date. Based on metagenome sequences, genomes were binned and bin4 included vulcel5A as well as a putative GH1 β-glycosidase-encoding gene (vulbgl1A) with highest identities to sequences from the archaeal genus Thermococcus. The recombinant β-glucosidase VulBgl1A produced in E. coli BL21 pQE-80L exhibited highest activity at 105 °C and pH 7.0 (76.12 ± 5.4 U/mg, 100%) using 4NP β-D-glucopyranoside as substrate and 61% relative activity at 120 °C. Accordingly, VulBgl1A represents one of the most heat-active β-glucosidases to date. The enzyme has a broad substrate specificity with 155% activity towards 4NP β-D-mannopyranoside in comparison with 4NP β-D-glucopyranoside. Moreover, nearly complete hydrolysis of cellobiose was demonstrated. The enzyme exhibited a high glucose tolerance with 26% residual activity in presence of 2 M glucose and was furthermore activated at glucose concentrations of up to 0.5 M. When the endoglucanase VulCel5A and the β-glucosidase VulBgl1A were applied simultaneously at 99 °C, 158% activity towards barley β-glucan and 215% towards mannan were achieved compared with the activity of VulCel5A alone (100%). Consequently, a significant increase in glucose formation was observed when both enzymes were incubated with β-glucan and mannan suggesting a synergistic effect. Hence, the two archaeal extremozymes are ideal candidates for complete glucan and mannan saccharification at temperatures above the boiling point of water.Publicationtype: Journal Article128