Process intensification for producing powdered extracts rich in bioactive compounds: An economic approach

Assessing the Environmental and Economic Sustainability of Functional Food Ingredient Production Process

Development and application of novel technologies in food processing is vital for ensuring the availability of adequate, safe, and convenient food with the desired quality and functional properties. Environmental and economic sustainability of technologies is essential prior to their application in the food processing sector. The objective of this research is to determine the environmental and economic feasibility of ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) for recovering functional food ingredients from seaweed. Experimental data is used to conduct a life cycle assessment (LCA) to investigate the environmental performance with a functional unit (FU) of obtaining 1 g of extracted polyphenols, measured as gallic acid equivalents (mg GAE)/g seaweed. A life cycle impact assessment is performed with ReCiPe 2016 at midpoint. The cost of manufacturing (COM) of phenolic-rich extracts (as functional ingredient, bioactive, or nutraceutical) is estimated using time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC). The environmental profile findings show that across all categories, the UAE has considerably lower impacts than the conventional method, with electricity as the most important impact contributor, followed by solvent production. An economic assessment estimates the COM over a one-year period at a large scale using the UAE to be EUR 1,200,304, EUR 2,368,440, and EUR 4,623,290 for extraction vessel capacities of 0.05, 0.1, and 0.15 m3, respectively. Raw materials (including the type of raw material) and operational labour costs are the primary contributors to the COM. The findings thus present evidence to support the adoption of an environmentally and economically viable technology for functional ingredient production.

Progress in the physicochemical treatment of microalgae biomass for value-added product recovery

Interest in microalgae-derived products is growing, mostly due to their unique characteristics and range of industrial applications. To obtain different products, one must employ specific pretreatments that retain the properties of the biologically active compounds extracted from microalgae biomass; thus, new extraction techniques require frequent upgrades. Due to increased interest in economically viable and ecologically friendly processes, new extraction methods that can be incorporated into microalgae biorefinery systems have become the main focus of research. Therefore, this review aims to address the potential applications, future prospects, and economic scenario of the new physicochemical treatments used in the extraction of bioactive microalgae compounds.

Potential benefits of near critical and supercritical pre-treatment of lignocellulosic biomass towards anaerobic digestion

Vegetable crop residues, such as sugarcane bagasse (SCB), despite their limited biodegradability, are potential materials for anaerobic processes because of their low cost, high availability, and sugar content. The difficulty of biodegrading this type of material is primarily related to its chemical composition and to the complex interactions between its compounds (cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin). Thus, the following supercritical and near critical carbon dioxide (CO₂) pre-treatments were evaluated with and without the addition of sodium hydroxide (NaOH): (i) 40°C/70 kgf·cm^-2; (ii) 60°C/200 kgf·cm^-2; and (iii) 80°C/200 kgf·cm^-2, aiming to enhance the anaerobic biodegradability of SCB. The methanogenic production of SCB increased in all cases in which the material was pre-treated, except the case in which NaOH was used together with a high temperature. The condition using CO₂ at 60°C/200 kgf·cm^-2 was highlighted with a lignin removal of 8.07% and an accumulated methane production of 0.6498 ± 0.014 L_N (273.15K, 1.01325 × 10⁵ Pa), 23.4% higher than the value obtained with the untreated material. This condition also showed the highest net energy at the energy balance that was calculated for comparison with the tested conditions. The results showed that pre-treatments with near critical and supercritical fluids have the potential to reduce structural obstacles of lignocellulosic materials and to enhance their anaerobic biodegradability.