Valorisation of rejected unripe plantain fruits of Musa AAB Simmonds: from nutritional characterisation to the conceptual process design for prebiotic production.

The increasing consumption of plantain fruits with specific quality standards generates high agricultural waste. This work aimed at valorising the rejected unripe pulp of Dominico-Hartón plantain fruits (Musa AAB Simmonds). The pulp was characterised physico-chemically, thermally and functionally.

Compost supplementation with nutrients and microorganisms in composting process.

The composting is an aerobic, microorganism-mediated, solid-state fermentation process by which different organic materials are transformed into more stable compounds. The product obtained is the compost, which contributes to the improvement of physical, chemical and microbiological properties of the soil. However, the compost usage in agriculture is constrained because of its long-time action and reduced supply of nutrients to the crops.

Polysaccharide production by submerged and solid-state cultures from several medicinal higher Basidiomycetes.

Polysaccharides produced by microorganisms represent an industrially unexploited market. An important number of polysaccharides have been isolated from fungi, especially mushrooms, with many interesting biological functions, such as antitumor, hypoglycemic, and immunostimulating activities. In the search of new sources of fungal polysaccharides, the main goal of this research was to test the ability of several species of basidiomycetes, among them various edible mushrooms, to produce both extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs) and intracellular polysaccharides (IPSs).

Conceptual design of cost-effective and environmentally-friendly configurations for fuel ethanol production from sugarcane by knowledge-based process synthesis.

In this work, the hierarchical decomposition methodology was used to conceptually design the production of fuel ethanol from sugarcane. The decomposition of the process into six levels of analysis was carried out. Several options of technological configurations were assessed in each level considering economic and environmental criteria.

Process integration possibilities for biodiesel production from palm oil using ethanol obtained from lignocellulosic residues of oil palm industry.

In this paper, integration possibilities for production of biodiesel and bioethanol using a single source of biomass as a feedstock (oil palm) were explored through process simulation. The oil extracted from Fresh Fruit Bunches was considered as the feedstock for biodiesel production. An extractive reaction process is proposed for transesterification reaction using in situ produced ethanol, which is obtained from two types of lignocellulosic residues of palm industry (Empty Fruit Bunches and Palm Press Fiber).

Trends in biotechnological production of fuel ethanol from different feedstocks.

Present work deals with the biotechnological production of fuel ethanol from different raw materials. The different technologies for producing fuel ethanol from sucrose-containing feedstocks (mainly sugar cane), starchy materials and lignocellulosic biomass are described along with the major research trends for improving them. The complexity of the biomass processing is recognized through the analysis of the different stages involved in the conversion of lignocellulosic complex into fermentable sugars.

Fuel ethanol production: process design trends and integration opportunities.

Current fuel ethanol research and development deals with process engineering trends for improving biotechnological production of ethanol. In this work, the key role that process design plays during the development of cost-effective technologies is recognized through the analysis of major trends in process synthesis, modeling, simulation and optimization related to ethanol production. Main directions in techno-economical evaluation of fuel ethanol processes are described as well as some prospecting configurations.