Advances in plant materials, food by-products, and algae conversion into biofuels: use of environmentally friendly technologies
Green technologies have emerged as useful tools for the generation of clean fuels with the potential to minimize the effect of human activity on the environment. Currently, these fuels are mainly composed of hydrocarbons obtained from crude oil. Over the past two decades, biomass has gained significant attention as a renewable feedstock for more sustainable biofuel production and has been a great candidate to replace fossil fuels. The principal components of most of the available biomass are cellulose, hemi-cellulose, and lignin. Although the available green technologies for biofuel production are progressing rapidly, productivity and chemical yield from these techniques are still below the…
Recent advancements in lactic acid production - a review.
Abstract Lactic acid, as an organic acid, has essential roles in industrial applications ranging from the food industry to life-sciences. Conventional fermentation methods have been well-studied since late 18th century, but are unable to achieve consumers' expectations regarding both quality and quantity. Therefore, novel technological developments of lactic acid production to increase yield and decrease over-all cost have become the primary goal. Genetic and metabolic engineering are great tools to overcome problems associated with product inhibition, undesired by-product formation, the negative effect of extreme culture conditions and most importantly inefficient use of expensive substrat…
The application of the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing machinery in food and agricultural science: Current status, future perspectives, and associated challenges.
The recent progress in genetic engineering has brought multiple benefits to the food and agricultural industry by enhancing the essential characteristics of agronomic traits. Powerful tools in the field of genome editing, such as siRNA-mediated RNA interference for targeted suppression of gene expression and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) and zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) for DNA repair have been widely used for commercial purposes. However, in the last few years, the discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 system has revolutionized genome editing and has attracted attention as a powerful tool for several industrial applications. Herein, we review current progresses in the uti…
Understanding the potential benefits of thyme and its derived products for food industry and consumer health: From extraction of value-added compounds to the evaluation of bioaccessibility, bioavailability, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activities.
Natural bioactive compounds isolated from several aromatic plants have been studied for centuries due to their unique characteristics that carry great importance in food, and pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. For instance, several beneficial activities have been attributed to some specific compounds found in Thymus such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiseptic properties. Moreover, these compounds are classified as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) which means they can be used as an ingrident of may food producs. Conventional extraction processes of these compounds and their derived forms from thyme leaves are well established. Hoewever, they present some im…
Solar radiation as a prospective energy source for green and economic processes in the food industry: From waste biomass valorization to dehydration, cooking, and baking
International audience; Solar energy has recently attracted the attention of both industry and academia, to be used as a source of clean energy for green production of various products such as food-related commodities. This review aims to explore the applicability of this green energy source for extraction of valuable components (e.g., bioactive compounds and essential oils) from plant materials and waste biomass, dehydration of plant materials, water recovery through desalination, decontamination, cooking, and baking of agri-food products. According to the literature, concentrated solar power systems (CSP) have been successfully employed for bioactive compounds (e.g. essential oils) extrac…
Emerging techniques in bioethanol production: from distillation to waste valorization
Ethanol production from biomass, especially waste biomass, and the use of such ethanol as fuel can reduce fossil fuel consumption and ameliorate the hidden costs of burning fossil fuels such as its environmental impact. However, bioethanol production suffers from several limitations such as being energy-intensive and generating a sizeable amount of waste. This review briefly describes the aspects related to bioethanol production and focuses on both theoretical and practical approaches for process improvements. Several green emerging distillation techniques, such as ohmic-assisted hydrodistillation, membrane-assisted distillation, and heat integrated techniques, are shown to be energy-saving…