Bioconversion of Agro-Residues into Microbial Oil-Based Oleochemicals Employing Packed Bed Bioreactor

Erminta Tsouko, Aikaterini Papadaki, Miguel Carmona-Cabello, Dorado Mp, Denise Maria Guimarães Freire, Seraphim Papanikolaou and Apostolis A. Koutinas ()
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Erminta Tsouko: Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 11855 Athens, Greece
Aikaterini Papadaki: Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 11855 Athens, Greece
Miguel Carmona-Cabello: Department of Physical Chemistry and Applied Thermodynamics, Universidad de Córdoba, Edificio Leonardo da Vinci, Campus de Rabanales, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario ceiA3, 14071 Cordoba, Spain
Dorado Mp: Department of Physical Chemistry and Applied Thermodynamics, Universidad de Córdoba, Edificio Leonardo da Vinci, Campus de Rabanales, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario ceiA3, 14071 Cordoba, Spain
Denise Maria Guimarães Freire: Biochemistry Department, Chemistry Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Av. Athos da Silveira Ramos 149, Bloco A, Lab 549, Rio de Janeiro 21941-909, Brazil
Seraphim Papanikolaou: Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 11855 Athens, Greece
Apostolis A. Koutinas: Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 11855 Athens, Greece

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-22

Abstract: Lignocellulosic waste-streams are resources worth investigating to produce value-added bioproducts due to their low-cost, renewability, versatility, and abundance. This study evaluated five Zygomycota strains as potential oleaginous microorganisms for direct bioconversion of cakes derived from the vegetable-oil-milling industry into microbial oil. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) conditions in tray bioreactors revealed that temperature, moisture content, and substrate affected lipid production and fatty acids composition. Employing SSF, under optimal conditions (30 °C, 65% initial moisture content), and substrate supplementation with nitrogen sources increased lipid productivity 1.1-fold on palm kernel cake (PKC) substrate. Supplementation strategies using glycerol, molasses, or mineral solution did nοt favor lipid production. When cotton seed cake (CoSC) was applied, C. echinulata was able to produce 304.1 mg/gfs of biomass with a lipid content of 40.2% ( w / w ) in tray bioreactors. Scaling-up SSF using CoSC in packed bed reactors led to the highest biomass production (320.5 mg/gfs), while lipids production was unaffected. Then, microbial oil was enzymatically converted into polyol esters achieving the highest conversion yield of 80% after 2 h. Physicochemical properties of polyol esters demonstrated their potential utilization as biolubricants. The present study showed the perspective of bioconverting industrial side streams into microbial oil and a route for sustainable synthesis of oleochemicals.

Keywords: palm kernel cake; cotton seed cake; castor seed cake; fungal oil; neopentyl glycol esters; Zygomycota; solid-state fermentation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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