Poem for Eavan Boland

“Poema para Eavan Boland” / “Poem for Eavan Boland”, de  José Huguenin. Tradução para o inglês por Rafael Teles da Silva. Escrito para “Eavan Boland — In Her Many Images”, ABEI Journal 23.2 (2021).“Poema para Eavan Boland” / “Poem for Eavan Boland” by  José Huguenin. English translation by Rafael Teles da Silva. Written for “Eavan Boland — In Her Many Images”, ABEI Journal 23.2 (2021)

Extraction of antioxidant compounds from enzymatic hydrolysis of brewer's spent grain after solid-state fermentation

Phenolic compounds have antioxidant properties that can benefit human health and food preservation. During solid-state fermentation (SSF) of lignocellulosic substrates, filamentous fungi produce carbohydrate degrading enzymes which can amplify the quantity of phenolics released linked to vegetable matrix when applying enzymatic hydrolysis (EH). In this work, brewer's spent grain (BSG) was fermented with Aspergillus ibericus and later the lignocellulolytic enzymes were extracted and used on an EH of fermented BSG. EH was optimized by a Box-Behnken design approach, studying the effect of three factors in the extraction of antioxidant compounds, namely the quantity of SSF-crude extract added, load of fermented solid and addition of -glucosidase. The maximum increase of phenols and antioxidant activity in comparison to unhydrolyzed BSG were 42.9 mg/g and 83.5 mol trolox/g, respectively. -glucosidase addition and low solid-load had a positive effect on the phenols released and antioxidant activity. The quantities of crude SSF-extract studied did not had a significant effect on phenols and antioxidant released.Helena Fernandes was supported by PhD grant (SFRH/BD/131219/2017). Funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Project SPO3 (ref.: POCI-01-0145-FEDER030377) BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the ERDF under the scope of Norte2020-Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

In vitro antimicrobial sensitivity to Staphylococcus spp. isolates from dairy cows with subclinical mastitis

Objetivou-se com este estudo avaliar a sensibilidade antimicrobiana in vitro de 291 isolados de Staphylococcus spp. recuperados de amostras de leite de vacas com mastite subclínica, em 15 propriedades rurais localizadas na Região Metropolitana do Recife (A), Agreste (B) e Zona da Mata (C) do estado de Pernambuco. Dos 291 isolados, 170(58,4%) foram classificados como Staphylococcus coagulase negativa (SCN), 84(28,9%) como Staphylococcus aureus e 37(12,7%) como Staphylococcus coagulase positiva (SCP). Para o estudo do perfil de sensibilidade a antimicrobianos empregou-se a técnica de difusão em discos, foram avaliadas 16 drogas antimicrobianas utilizadas no tratamento das mastites. O antibiótico que apresentou melhor eficácia in vitro foi a associação entre neomicina + bacitracina + tetraciclina com percentuais de 98,4%, 99,3%, 89,7% para as regiões A, B e C, respectivamente. O antibiótico menos eficaz foi a ampicilina que apresentou 56,5% de resistência para as amostras da região A, 72,8% para a região B e 71,8% na região C. Os resultados obtidos mostram a necessidade da realização periódica de testes de sensibilidade in vitro, pois existem variações no perfil de sensibilidade e resistência que podem comprometer o tratamento do animal bem como os programas de controle da mastite bovina causada pelo Staphylococcus spp.The objective of the investigation was to evaluate the in vitro antimicrobial sensibility of 291 isolates of Staphylococcus spp., taken from the mammary glands of dairy cows with subclinical mastitis in the regions of Metropolitan Recife (A), Agreste (B) and Zona da Mata (C) in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. From the 291 isolates, 170 (58.4%) were identified as negative coagulase Staphylococcus (SCN), 84 (28.9%) as Staphylococcus aureus, and 37 (12.7%) as positive coagulase Staphylococcus (SCP). To study sensitivity to antimicrobials, the diffusion in disks method was used with 16 antimicrobial drugs commonly employed in the treatment of mastitis. The most efficient antibiotic in vitro was the combination of neomicine + bacitracine + tetracycline with percentages of 98.4%, 99.3%, and 89.7% for the A, B, and C regions, respectively. The least efficient was ampicillin, which was resistant to 56.5% of the isolates taken from region A, 72.8% from region B, and 71.8% from region C. These results indicate the need for periodic testing of sensitivity in vitro, as these variations can compromise the treatment of animals as well as control programs for bovine mastitis caused by Staphylococcus spp

Solid-state fermentation of winery and olive mill wastes for lignocellulolytic enzymes and antioxidant compounds production

Solid-state fermentation (SSF) is a process that can use agroin-dustry solid residues as substrate for microbial growth. During SSF, value-added products and fermented biomass are generated con-tributing for the reutilization of otherwise pollutant agroindustry wastes. By SSF, fungi can hydrolyze anti-nutritional factors of plant-based residues, as the lignocellulosic matrix, and produce enzymes, phenolic compounds and other bioactive compounds, making this a high interest bioprocess for the aquafeed industry. The present study optimized (simplex centroid design) the mixture of winery and olive mill wastes to produce lignocellulolytic enzymes and to extract phenolic compounds through SSF by Aspergillus niger. The substrate mixture that maximized the production of lignocellu-lolytic enzymes, antioxidant and phenolic compounds was 0.44 g exhausted olive pomace/gds; 0.3 g exhausted grape marc/gds; 0.15 g vine-shoot trimmings and 0.1 g crude olive pomace/gds. The crude extract will be applied as additive in meagre (Argyrosomus regius) diets, to improve the feed utilization efciency of low-sh meal-based diets, contributing to the sustainability of aquafeeds.Funded by Programa Operacional Mar2020, Portugal 2020 under the project InovFeed (ref.MAR-02.01.01-FEAMP-0111) and BioTec Norte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by ERDF under the scope of Norte 2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of biological and physical pre-treatments of Ulva rigida in the quality of on-growing European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax

[Excerpt] Content A growth trial with European seabass was performed to assess the effect of the dietary inclusion of Ulva rigida as is or with technological pre-treatment with ultrasounds (US) or solid-state fermentation (SSF) with Aspergillus ibericus. Promising results of the pre-treatment of U. rigida prior to dietary inclusion on growth performance and feed utilization efficiency of seabass were obtained, however, the effect of these treatments on fillet nutritional and sensory quality was not yet evaluated.[...]Supported by PhD grant by FCT ref.SFRH/BD/131219/2017, IJFCT-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030377 and MAR-02.01.01-FEAMP-0111info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Assessing antimicrobial potential of agroindustrial byproducts' extracts produced through solid state fermentation in marine fish

[Excerpt] Sustainability is definitely the 21st century word. The future global food provision is dependent on fish and on sustainable expansion of aquaculture production. For that, alternative nutritional strategies for aquaculture disease management are required, reducing the use of synthetic drugs. Agroindustrial byproducts(brewery, winery and olive oil industry) constitute a circular and ecofriendly potential source of add-value bioactive compounds. Solid state fermentation(SSF) is a biotechnological low cost process that may be applied to these byproducts to effectively increase bioavailability of their bioactive compounds and so their antimicrobial potential against fish pathogens. The aim of this study was to evaluate antibacterial properties of agroindustry(beer, wine and oil processing industries) byproducts' extracts produced through SSF with Aspergillus ibericus. [...]SPO3(ref.POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030377;FCT) & InovFeed(ref. MAR-02.01.01-FEAMP0111;Mar2020)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Novel fish feed supplements: giving value to agroindustrial wastes

Sustainable aquaculture requires the reduction of fish meal use in diets, by replacing it with ecofriendly ingredients, as that vegetal feedstuff not desirable for human consumption. However, these pose challenges due to the presence of antinutritional factors. The supplementation with some supplements, like exoenzymes and antioxidants, has shown potential to reduce their nutritional drawbacks. The solid-state fermentation (SSF) of agro-industrial wastes may be used to obtain such compounds. The goal of this work was to test the applicability of an SSF-extract, obtained through the SSF of an optimized mixture of three agro-industrial wastes with Aspergilus ibericus (30% EGM, 36% VTS, 34% EOP), determined previously with a simplex-centroid mixture design. The activity of this extract was measured to be xylanase: 1866.9 U/g (lyophilized extract); cellulose: 1563.6 U/g; β-glucosidase: 736.455 U/g, and total antioxidants: 439.4 μmol Trolox equivalents/g lyophilized extract; total phenols: 28.1 mg caffeic acid equivalents/g lyophilized extract. The efficiency of this extract as a feed additive in plant-based diets evaluated by an in vitro digestibility trial, analyzing its efficiency to improve the release of pentoses and antioxidants during digestion. The extract was used to supplement diets for Dicentrarchus labrax, with increasing levels of extract: 0, 4 and 8 U cellulase/g diet. Dietary supplementation with the extract led to the increase of pentose release, during alkaline digestion. The effect of the supplementation with the SSF extract on the release of antioxidants and phenols compounds are being evaluated and will be presented.Project SPO3 (ref. POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030377; FEDER-Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalization and FCT); project InovFeed (ref. MAR-02.01.01-FEAMP0111; Programa Operacional Mar2020); BioTecNorte (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004; ERDF under the scope of Norte2020-Programa Operacional Regional do Norte)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Electrospun nanosized cellulose fibers using ionic liquids at room temperature

Aiming at replacing the noxious solvents commonly employed, ionic-liquid-based solvents have been recently explored as novel non-volatile and non-flammable media for the electrospinning of polymers. In this work, nanosized and biodegradable cellulose fibers were obtained by electrospinning at room temperature using a pure ionic liquid or a binary mixture of two selected ionic liquids. The electrospinning of 8 wt% cellulose in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate medium (a low viscosity and room temperature ionic liquid capable of efficiently dissolving cellulose) showed to produce electrospun fibers with average diameters within (470 ± 110) nm. With the goal of tailoring the surface tension of the spinning dope, a surface active ionic liquid was further added in a 0.10 : 0.90 mole fraction ratio. Electrospun cellulose fibers from the binary mixture composed of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate and 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ionic liquids presented average diameters within (120 ± 55) nm. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric assays were used as core methods to evaluate the structural integrity, morphology and crystallinity of the raw, electrospun, and regenerated samples of cellulose. Moreover, the photoluminescence spectra of both raw and electrospun fibers were acquired, and compared, indicating that the cellulose emitting centers are not affected by the dissolution of cellulose in ionic liquids. Finally, the use of non-volatile solvents in electrospinning coupled to a water coagulation bath allows the recovery of the ionic fluid, and represents a step forward into the search of environmentally friendly alternatives to the conventional approaches

Comparing the use of different domestic wastewaters for coupling microalgal production and nutrient removal.

The streams from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) have been considered a valuable medium for mass cultivation of algal biomass. The aim of this work is to test and compare the performance of Chlorella vulgaris on several streams from five stages, from two different WWTP. The results showed biomass yields ranging from 39 to 195 mg dry-weight l−1 days−1. The best performance as biomass production was obtained with the centrate (effluent from drying the anaerobic sludge). After testing a wide range of N/P ratios with centrate, the highest productivity and growth rates were obtained with the original N/P ratio (2.0) of this stream. The highest removal rates were of 9.8 (N) and 3.0 (P) mg l−1 days−1, in the centrate. Finally, this research also suggests that microalgal production seems to be a promising process when coupled to wastewater treatment