2 research outputs found
Utilization of Sweet Sorghum Juice for the Production of Astaxanthin as a Biorefinery Co-Product by <i>Phaffia rhodozyma</i>
This work investigates
cultivating the red-pigmented yeast Phaffia rhodozyma in sweet sorghum juice (SSJ) to
assess the production of astaxanthin as a potential biorefinery co-product.
Shake flask cultures on defined sugar medium indicated that all three
sugars (sucrose, glucose, and fructose) could be consumed with adequate
nitrogen and nutrient supplementation. Only modest biomass growth
and astaxanthin production could be achieved in SSJ without nitrogen
supplementation; however, combining nitrogen supplementation with
yeast extract in diluted SSJ could metabolize all sugars present in
168 h. A 2 L bioreactor trial with full strength (i.e., undiluted)
SSJ produced up to 29 g/L of biomass, 65.4 mg/L of astaxanthin, an
overall cell astaxanthin content of 2.49 mg astaxanthin/g dry cell
mass, and a volumetric astaxanthin productivity of 0.389 mg/L/h after
168 h of cultivation. Further process optimization is needed since
glucose metabolism was incomplete in undiluted SSJ
A Comparison of Two Milling Strategies To Reduce the Mycotoxin Deoxynivalenol in Barley
Winter barley (Hordeum
vulgare L.),
a potential feedstock for fuel ethanol production, may be contaminated
with the trichothecene mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON). DON is a threat
to feed and food safety in the United States and may become concentrated
during the production of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS).
DDGS is a coproduct of fuel ethanol production and is increasingly
being used as feed for domestic animals. Therefore, new strategies
to reduce the threat of DON in DDGS need to be developed and implemented
for grain destined for fuel ethanol production. It is known that large
concentrations of DON accumulate in the hulls of wheat and barley.
Consequently, improved methods are needed to carefully remove the
hull from the grain and preserve the starchy endosperm. Whole kernels
from five Virginia winter barley genotypes were used to evaluate the
abilities of two different milling strategies (roller milling and
precision milling (FitzMill)) for their ability to remove the hull-enriched
tissue from the kernel while maintaining starch levels and reducing
DON levels in the endosperm-enriched tissue. After whole kernels were
milled, DON and starch levels were quantified in the hull-enriched
fractions and endosperm-enriched fractions. Initial milling experiments
demonstrated that the precision mill system (6 min run time) is able
to reduce more DON than the roller mill but with higher starch losses.
The average percent DON removed from the kernel with the roller mill
was 36.7% ± 5.5 and the average percent DON removed from the
dehulled kernel with the precision mill was 85.1% ± 9.0. Endosperm-enriched
fractions collected from the roller mill and precision mill contained
starch levels ranging from 49.0% ± 12.1 to 59.1% ± 0.5 and
58.5% ± 1.6 to 65.3% ± 3.9, respectively. On average, the
precision mill removed a mass of 23.1% ± 6.8 and resulted in
starch losses of 9.6% ± 6.3, but produced an endosperm-enriched
fraction with relatively very little average DON (5.5 ± 2.7 μg
g<sup>–1</sup>). In contrast, on average, the roller mill removed
a mass of 12.2% ± 1.6 and resulted in starch losses of 2.1% ±
0.5, but produced an endosperm-enriched fraction with high average
DON (20.7 ± 13.5 μg g<sup>–1</sup>). In a time course
precision milling experiment, we tested barley genotypes Nomini, Atlantic,
and VA96-44-304 and attempted to reduce the starch loss seen in the
first experiment while maintaining low DON concentrations. Decreasing
the run time of the precision mill from 5 to 2 min, reduced starch
loss at the expense of higher DON concentrations. Aspirated fractions
revealed that the precision milled hull-enriched fraction contained
endosperm-enriched components that were highly contaminated with DON.
This work has important implications for the reduction of mycotoxins
such as DON in barley fuel ethanol coproducts and barley enriched
animal feeds and human foods