Effect of a milling pre-treatment on the enzymatic hydrolysis of carbohydrates in brewer's spent grain

Production of single cell protein from brewer's spent grain through enzymatic saccharification and fermentation enhanced by ammoniation pretreatment

Brewer's spent grain (BSG) is a major low-value by-product of beer industry. To realize the high value application of BSG, this work proposed a strategy to produce single cell protein (SCP) with oligosaccharide prebiotics from BSG, via ammoniation pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and fermentation. The optimum conditions of ammoniation pretreatment obtained by response surface method were 11 % ammonia dosage (w/w), 63 °C for 26 h. Suitable enzyme and yeast were screened to enhance the conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose in BSG into sugars and maximize the SCP yield. It was shown that using lignocellulolytic enzyme SP from Penicillium oxalicum and Trichosporon cutaneum, about 310 g of SCP with 80 g of arabinoxylo-oligosaccharides were obtained from 1000 g of BSG. This process is low cost, high efficiency, and easy to implement, which has good industrial application prospects.

Versatile Applications of Brewer's Spent Grain: Solid-State Fermentation and Nutritional Added Value

Brewer's spent grain (BSG) is a major by-product in the beer-brewing process which contributes to 85% of the entire generated by-product in the brewing process. BSG is rich in proteins, and most of the malt proteins (74-78%) remain insoluble in BSG after the mashing process. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) is a promising bioprocess that enables microorganisms to survive in environments with minimal water and has shown to enhance the nutritional composition of BSG. In this review, the potential application of protein, amino acids (proline, threonine, and serine), phenolic contents, and soluble sugars (glucose, fructose, xylose, arabinose, and cellobiose) extracted from BSG by various microorganisms using SSF is explored. Incorporation of BSG into animal feed, human diets, and as a substrate for microorganisms are the prospects that could be implemented in the industrial scale. This review also discussed various advances to improve the fermentation yield such as symbiotic fermentation, the addition of nitrogen supplements, and an optimal mixture of the agro-industrial waste substrate. Future perspectives on SSF are also addressed to provide important ideas for immediate and future studies. However, challenges include optimizing SSF conditions and design of bioreactors, and operational costs must be addressed in the future to overcome current obstacles. Overall, this mini review highlights the potential benefits of BSG utilization and SSF in a sustainable way.

3D Filaments Based on Polyhydroxy Butyrate-Micronized Bacterial Cellulose for Tissue Engineering Applications

In this work, scaffolds based on poly(hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and micronized bacterial cellulose (BC) were produced through 3D printing. Filaments for the printing were obtained by varying the percentage of micronized BC (0.25, 0.50, 1.00, and 2.00%) inserted in relation to the PHB matrix. Despite the varying concentrations of BC, the biocomposite filaments predominantly contained PHB functional groups, as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) demonstrated. Thermogravimetric analyses (i.e., TG and DTG) of the filaments showed that the peak temperature (Tpeak) of PHB degradation decreased as the concentration of BC increased, with the lowest being 248 °C, referring to the biocomposite filament PHB/2.0% BC, which has the highest concentration of BC. Although there was a variation in the thermal behavior of the filaments, it was not significant enough to make printing impossible, considering that the PHB melting temperature was 170 °C. Biological assays indicated the non-cytotoxicity of scaffolds and the provision of cell anchorage sites. The results obtained in this research open up new paths for the application of this innovation in tissue engineering.

Influence of Coffee Variety and Processing on the Properties of Parchments as Functional Bioadditives for Biobased Poly(butylene succinate) Composites

Fermented polymers like biobased poly(butylene succinate) (BioPBS) have become more relevant as technical substitutes for ductile petrochemical-based polymers but require biogenic functional additives to deaccelerate undesired thermo-oxidative degradation and keep a fully biobased character. In this paper, the influence of coffee parchment (PMT) from two different varieties and processings on the thermo-oxidative stabilization and mechanical properties of poly(butylene succinate) composites up to 20 wt.-% PMT were investigated. Micronized with a TurboRotor mill, both PMT powders differ in particle size and shape, moisture ab- and adsorption behavior and antioxidative properties. It could be shown that pulped-natural PMT consists partially of coffee cherry residues, which leads to a higher total polyphenol content and water activity. The homogeneous PMT from fully washed processing has a higher thermal degradation resistance but consists of fibers with larger diameters. Compounded with the BioPBS and subsequent injection molded, the fully washed PMT leads to higher stiffness and equal tensile strength but lower toughness compared to the pulped-natural PMT, especially at lower deformation speed. Surprisingly, the fully washed PMT showed a higher stability against thermo-oxidative decomposition despite the lower values in the total phenol content and antioxidative activity. The required antioxidative stabilizers might be extracted at higher temperatures from the PMT fibers, making it a suitable biogenic stabilizer for extrusion processes.

Improvement of the Thermo-Oxidative Stability of Biobased Poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) Using Biogenic Wine By-Products as Sustainable Functional Fillers

Biobased poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) represents one promising sustainable alternative to petroleum-based polymers. Its sensitivity to thermo-oxidative degradation is one reason for its limited application. In this research, two different varieties of wine grape pomaces (WPs) were investigated as fully biobased stabilizers. WPs were prepared via simultaneous drying and grinding to be used as bio-additives or functional fillers at higher filling rates. The by-products were characterized in terms of composition and relative moisture, in addition to particle size distribution analysis, TGA, and assays to determine the total phenolic content and the antioxidant activity. Biobased PBS was processed with a twin-screw compounder with WP contents up to 20 wt.-%. The thermal and mechanical properties of the compounds were investigated with DSC, TGA, and tensile tests using injection-molded specimens. The thermo-oxidative stability was determined using dynamic OIT and oxidative TGA measurements. While the characteristic thermal properties of the materials remained almost unchanged, the mechanical properties were altered within expected ranges. The analysis of the thermo-oxidative stability revealed WP as an efficient stabilizer for biobased PBS. This research shows that WP, as a low-cost and biobased stabilizer, improves the thermo-oxidative stability of biobased PBS while maintaining its key properties for processing and technical applications.

Ionic liquid depolymerize the lignocellulose for the enzymatic extraction of feruloylated oligosaccharide from corn bran

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ILs pretreatment enriched the extraction yield of conjugated phenols in corn bran.

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[Amim]Ac is an excellent solvent for the depolymerization of corn bran lignocellulose.

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[Amim]Ac pretreatment maintains the structure of feruloylated oligosaccharide.

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The effect of phase volume ratio, settling time, temperatures and concentration were determined.

In this study, a new method was developed for feruloylated oligosaccharides (FOs) enzymatic hydrolysis extraction from corn bran, using ionic liquids (ILs) as the solvent for the depolymerization of dietary fiber. The 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate [Amim]Ac was the most effective IL among the eight evaluated ILs, which leads to a 1.5 times-higher total FOs content as compared with conventional non-pretreatment extraction. The optimum condition acquired by response surface methodology was 194.31 min, 143.08 °C, solid–liquid ratio of 1:20, and the concentration of 18.65%. The depolymerized biomass was characterized using SEM, FTIR and CLSM. The results confirmed that [Amim]Ac mainly enters the cavity among the lignocellulose and breaks linkages to release FOs by exposure binding sites of hemicellulose to hydrolysis enzymes. In particular, the linkages between ferulic acid and hemicellulose were not affected by ILs pretreatment. This study provides an efficient method for the preparation of conjugated phenols from lignocellulose.

Fungal Biovalorization of a Brewing Industry Byproduct, Brewer's Spent Grain: A Review

The beer industry is a major producer of solid waste globally, primarily in the form of brewer's spent grain (BSG), which due to its low value has historically been diverted to livestock as feed or to landfills. However, its high moisture content and chemical composition positions BSG as an ideal candidate for further processing with microbial fermentation. Recent research has focused on filamentous fungi and the ability of some species therein to degrade the predominant recalcitrant cellulolignin components of BSG to produce valuable compounds. Many species have been investigated to biovalorize this waste stream, including those in the genuses Aspergillus, Penicillium, Rhyzopus, and Trichoderma, which have been used to produce a wide array of highly valuable enzymes and other functional compounds, and to increase the nutritional value of BSG as an animal feed. This review of recent developments in the application of filamentous fungi for the valorization of BSG discusses the biochemical makeup of BSG, the biological mechanisms underlying fungi's primacy to this application, and the current applications of fungi in this realm.

Functional characterization of a highly specific L-arabinose transporter from Trichoderma reesei

Background

Lignocellulose biomass has been investigated as a feedstock for second generation biofuels and other value-added products. Some of the processes for biofuel production utilize cellulases and hemicellulases to convert the lignocellulosic biomass into a range of soluble sugars before fermentation with microorganisms such as yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One of these sugars is l-arabinose, which cannot be utilized naturally by yeast. The first step in l-arabinose catabolism is its transport into the cells, and yeast lacks a specific transporter, which could perform this task.

Results

We identified Trire2_104072 of Trichoderma reesei as a potential l-arabinose transporter based on its expression profile. This transporter was described already in 2007 as d-xylose transporter XLT1. Electrophysiology experiments with Xenopus laevis oocytes and heterologous expression in yeast revealed that Trire2_104072 is a high-affinity l-arabinose symporter with a K_m value in the range of \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\sim$$\end{document}∼ 0.1–0.2 mM. It can also transport d-xylose but with low affinity (K_m\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\sim$$\end{document}∼ 9 mM). In yeast, l-arabinose transport was inhibited slightly by d-xylose but not by d-glucose in an assay with fivefold excess of the inhibiting sugar. Comparison with known l-arabinose transporters revealed that the expression of Trire2_104072 enabled yeast to uptake l-arabinose at the highest rate in conditions with low extracellular l-arabinose concentration. Despite the high specificity of Trire2_104072 for l-arabinose, the growth of its T. reesei deletion mutant was only affected at low l-arabinose concentrations.

Conclusions

Due to its high affinity for l-arabinose and low inhibition by d-glucose or d-xylose, Trire2_104072 could serve as a good candidate for improving the existing pentose-utilizing yeast strains. The discovery of a highly specific l-arabinose transporter also adds to our knowledge of the primary metabolism of T. reesei. The phenotype of the deletion strain suggests the involvement of other transporters in l-arabinose transport in this species.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12934-021-01666-4.

Phenolic Compounds From Brewer's Spent Grains: Toward Green Recovery Methods and Applications in the Cosmetic Industry

Brewers' spent grain (BSG) is the main by-product derived from the brewing industry, where it accounts for 85% of the total waste generated. The total annual production worldwide of this waste is 39 million tons. This lignocellulosic material is traditionally used as cattle feed and sold at a low retail price (~USD 45.00 per ton). However, efforts for the revalorization of this by-product are emerging since research has established that it can be used as a low-cost source of bioactive molecules and commodity chemicals that can bring value to integral biorefinery ventures. Among commodities, phenolic compounds have attracted attention as added-value products due to their antioxidant properties with applications in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. These phytochemicals have been associated with antiaging and anticancer activities that have potential applications on cosmetic products. This mini-review summarizes the most relevant extraction techniques used for the recovery of phenolic compounds from BSG while discussing their advantages and shortcomings and the potential applications from BSG bioactive extracts in the cosmetic industry and their reported beneficial effects. This mini-review also makes a brief comment on the role of phenolic compounds extraction in the economic feasibility of an integral BSG biorefinery.

Mature Landfill Leachate as a Medium for Hydrodynamic Cavitation of Brewery Spent Grain

In this study, we evaluate the usefulness of mature landfill leachate (MLL) as a carrier allowing hydrodynamic cavitation (HD) of brewery spent grain (BSG). The HD experiments were conducted using an orifice plate with a conical concentric hole of 3/10 mm (inlet/outlet diameter) as a constriction in the cavitation device. The initial pressure was 7 bar and the number of recirculation passes through the cavitation zone reached 30. The results showed that complex organic matter was degraded and solubilized when cavitating the MLL and BSG mixture. The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) increased by 45% and the BOD5/total chemical oxygen demand (COD) ratio increased by 69%, whereas the COD, total solids, and nutrient concentration dropped noticeably. However, Fourier transform infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy (FTIR-PAS) revealed the generation of possibly toxic HD byproducts such as aromatic compounds. This seems to indicate that MLL could not be regarded as a suitable carrier for BSG cavitation.

Proteomic profiling of barley spent grains guides enzymatic solubilization of the remaining proteins

Within the brewing industry, malted barley is being increasingly replaced by raw barley supplemented with exogenous enzymes to lessen reliance on the time-consuming, high water and energy cost of malting. Regardless of the initial grain of choice, malted or raw, the resultant bulk spent grains are rich in proteins (up to 25% dry weight). Efficient enzymatic solubilization of these proteins requires knowledge of the protein composition within the spent grains. Therefore, a comprehensive proteomic profiling was performed on spent grains derived from (i) malted barley (spent grain A, SGA) and (ii) enzymatically treated raw barley (spent grain B, SGB); data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD008090. Results from complementary shotgun proteomics and 2D gel electrophoresis showed that the most abundant proteins in both spent grains were storage proteins (hordeins and embryo globulins); these were present at an average of two fold higher in spent grain B. Quantities of other major proteins were generally consistent in both spent grains A and B. Subsequent in silico protein sequence analysis of the predominant proteins facilitated knowledge-based protease selection to enhance spent grain solubilization. Among tested proteases, Alcalase 2.4 L digestion resulted in the highest remaining protein solubilization with 9.2 and 11.7% net dry weight loss in SGA and SGB respectively within 2 h. Thus, Alcalase alone can significantly reduce spent grain side stream, which makes it a possible solution to increase the value of this low-value side stream from the brewing and malt extract beverage manufacturing industry.

Regularity and mechanism of wheat straw properties change in ball milling process at cellular scale

To investigate the change of structure and physicochemical properties of wheat straw in ball milling process at cellular scale, a series of wheat straws samples with different milling time were produced using an ultrafine vibration ball mill. A multitechnique approach was used to analyze the variation of wheat straw properties. The results showed that the characteristics of wheat straw powder displayed regular changes as a function of the milling time, i.e., the powder underwent the inversion of breakage to agglomerative regime during wheat straw ball milling process. The crystallinity index, bulk density and water retention capacity of wheat straw were exponential relation with ball milling time. Moreover, ball milling continually converted macromolecules of wheat straw cell wall into water-soluble substances resulting in the water extractives proportional to milling time.

Use of an extruder for pre-mixing enhances xylanase action on wheat bran at low water content

The aim of the work was to test the hypothesis that at low water content enzyme action on biomass is enhanced when the raw material is in the form of a continuous mass instead of powder/granular form. Effects of two pre-mixing methods, blade-mixing and extrusion, on xylanase action were studied during stationary incubation of wheat bran of different particle sizes, also in comparison with incubation at high water content with continuous stirring. The use of an extruder enhanced arabinoxylan (AX) solubilisation at low water content (<54%), as compared to blade-mixing. AX solubilisation was highest in the high-water stirring treatment, but based on molecular weight, xylanase action on solubilised AX was similar as in the extrusion-aided process. Pre-mixing by extrusion enabled efficient enzyme action at low water content without the requirement for continuous mixing, probably due to the enhanced diffusion by the formation of a continuous mass in the extruder.

Release of small phenolic compounds from brewer's spent grain and its lignin fractions by human intestinal microbiota in vitro

Brewer's spent grain (BSG), the major side-stream from brewing, is rich in protein, lignin, and nonstarch polysaccharides. Lignin is a polyphenolic macromolecule considered resilient toward breakdown and utilization by colon microbiota, although some indications of release of small phenolic components from lignin in animals have been shown. The aim of this study was to investigate if the human intestinal microbiota can release lignans and small phenolic compounds from whole BSG, a lignin-enriched insoluble fraction from BSG and a deferuloylated fraction, in a metabolic in vitro colon model. The formation of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) was also investigated. More lignin-related monomers and dilignols were detected from the lignin-enriched fraction than from BSG or deferuloylated BSG. SCFA formation was not suppressed by any of the fractions. It was shown that small lignin-like compounds were released from these samples in the in vitro colon model, originating most likely from lignin.

Pre-hydrolysis with carbohydrases facilitates the release of protein from brewer's spent grain

Brewer's spent grain (BSG) is the most abundant side-stream from brewing. It is food-grade being rich in dietary fibre and protein and thus having potential as their source for both food and non-food applications. Initial treatment of milled BSG with a carbohydrase cocktail from Humicola insolens significantly enhanced the subsequent solubilisation of protein from the residual biomass. When treated with an alkaline protease, 76% of BSG protein was solubilized, whereas the yields were significantly lower with neutral or acidic proteases. In alkaline conditions significant amount of protein (53%) as predominantly low molecular weight protein was solubilized even without any protease addition. The degree of protein solubilisation was influenced by the time of exposure of modified BSG to the alkaline environment. The non-enzymatic protein solubilisation was, however, only observed when BSG had been initially treated with the carbohydrase, suggesting the protein is surrounded by cell wall polysaccharides restricting its initial release.

Characterization of lipids and lignans in brewer's spent grain and its enzymatically extracted fraction

Brewer's spent grain (BSG), the major side stream of brewing, consists of the husks and the residual parts of malts after the mashing process. BSG was enzymatically fractionated by a two-step treatment with carbohydrate- and protein-degrading enzymes, which solubilized 66% of BSG. BSG contained 11% lipids, which were mostly triglycerides, but also a notable amount of free fatty acids was present. Lipids were mostly solubilized due to the alkaline pH applied in the protease treatment. The main fatty acids were linoleic, palmitic, and oleic acids. Several lignans were identified in BSG, syringaresinol and secoisolariciresinol being the most abundant, many associated with the cell wall matrix and released by the alkaline-protease treatment.