Biotechnol Biofuels Bioprod
June 2024
Plastic consumption has increased globally, and environmental issues associated with it have only gotten more severe; as a result, the search for environmentally friendly alternatives has intensified. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), as biopolymers produced by microalgae, might be an excellent option; however, large-scale production is a relevant barrier that hinders their application. Recently, innovative materials such as carbon dots (CDs) have been explored to enhance PHA production sustainably.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe production of biomolecules by microalgae has a wide range of applications in the development of various materials and products, such as biodiesel, food supplements, and cosmetics. Microalgae biomass can be produced using waste and in a smaller space than other types of crops (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroalgae and cyanobacteria are photosynthetic microorganisms' sources of renewable biomass that can be used for bioplastic production. These microorganisms have high growth rates, and contrary to other feedstocks, such as land crops, they do not require arable land. In addition, they can be used as feedstock for bioplastic production while not competing with food sources (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring the last decades, the growth of concern towards different pollutants has been increasing due to population activities in large cities and the great need for food production by the agri-food industry. The effects observed in specific locations have shown the impact over the environment in air, soil and water. Specifically, the current pandemic of COVID-19 has brought into the picture the intensive use of different medical substances to treat the disease and population intensive misuse.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomass waste generation concerns regulatory authorities to develop novel methods to sustain biotransformation processes. Particularly, lactic acid (LA) is a bulk commodity chemical used in diverse industries and holds a growing global market demand. Recently, lignocellulosic waste biomass is preferred for LA bio-production because of its non-edible and inexpensive nature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGreenhouse gases (GHG) emissions are widely related to climate change, triggering several environmental problems of global concern and producing environmental, social, and economic negative impacts. Therefore, global research seeks to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, the use of wastes under a circular economy scheme generates subproducts from the range of high to medium-value, representing a way to help sustainable development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFis a well-known Rhodophyta that recently has attracted enormous attention because of its capacity to produce many high-value metabolites such as the pigment phycoerythrin and several high-value fatty acids. Phycoerythrin is a fluorescent red protein-pigment commercially relevant with antioxidant, antimicrobial activity, and fluorescent properties. The volumetric mass transfer coefficient (ka) was kept constant within the different scaling-up stages in the present study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCyanobacteria are essential for the vast number of compounds they produce and the possible applications in the pharmaceutical, cosmetical, and food industries. As species' characterization is limited in the literature, we characterize this cyanobacterium's growth and biomass. .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntidepressants are drugs with a direct action on the brain's biochemistry through their interaction with the neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. The increasing worldwide contamination from these drugs may be witnessed through their increasing presence in the urban water cycle. Furthermore, their occurrence has been detected in non-urban water, such as rivers and oceans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPork production has expanded in the world in recent years. This growth has caused a significant increase in waste from this industry, especially of wastewater. Although there has been an increase in wastewater treatment, there is a lack of useful technologies for the treatment of wastewater from the pork industry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiatoms are a type of microalgae with diverse capabilities which make them useful for multiple applications. The abundance of diatoms in water bodies facilitates the removal of pollutants from wastewater originating from different industries, such as agriculture and other anthropogenic sources. The unique photosynthetic, cellular and metabolic characteristics of diatoms allows them to utilize pollutants like nitrate, iron, phosphate, molybdenum, silica, and heavy metals, such as copper, cadmium, chromium, lead, etc.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF4-Nonylphenol (4-NP) is an anthropogenic contaminant found in different environmental matrices that has an effect over the biotic and abiotic factors within the environment. Bioremediation by microorganisms can be used as a potential treatment to remove this pollutant. In this work, a consortium of two microorganisms, Arthrospira maxima and Chlorella vulgaris, was employed to remove 4-NP from water.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExistence of anthropogenic contaminants (ACs) in different environmental matrices is a serious and unresolved concern. For instance, ACs from different sectors, such as industrial, agricultural, and pharmaceutical, are found in water bodies with considerable endocrine disruptors potency and can damage the biotic components of the environment. The continuous ACs exposure can cause cellular toxicity, apoptosis, genotoxicity, and alterations in sex ratios in human beings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNejayote and swine wastewater are highly pollutant effluents and a source of organic matter load that sometimes released into water bodies (rivers or lakes), soils or public sewer system, with or without partial treatments. Nejayote is a wastewater product of alkaline cooking of maize, whereas, swine wastewater results from the primary production of pigs for the meat market. Owing to the presence of environmentally related pollutants, both sources are considered the major cause of pollution and thus require urgent action.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF