Data for life cycle assessment of legume biorefining for alcohol

Benchmarking the environmental sustainability of alcohol produced from legume starch against alcohol produced from cereal grains requires considering of crop production, nutrient cycling and use of protein-rich co-products via life cycle assessment. This article describes the mass balance flows behind the life cycle inventories for gin produced from wheat and peas (Pisum sativum L.) in an associated article summarising the environmental footprints of wheat- and pea-gin [1], and also presents detailed supplementary results. Activity data were collected from interviews with actors along the entire gin value chain including a distillery manager and ingredient and packaging suppliers. Important fertiliserand animal-feed substitution effects of co-product use were derived using detailed information and models on nutrient flows and animal feed composition, along with linear optimisation modelling. Secondary data on environmental burdens of specific materials and processes were obtained from the Ecoinvent v3.4 life cycle assessment database. This article provides a basis for further quantitative evaluation of the environmental sustainability of legume-alcohol value chains

Just the tonic! Legume biorefining for alcohol has the potential to reduce Europe’s protein deficit and mitigate climate change

Industrialised agriculture is heavily reliant upon synthetic nitrogen fertilisers and imported protein feeds, posing environmental and food security challenges. Increasing the cultivation of leguminous crops that biologically fix nitrogen and provide high protein feed and food could help to address these challenges. We report on the innovative use of an important leguminous crop, pea (Pisum sativum L.), as a source of starch for alcohol (gin) production, yielding protein-rich animal feed as a co-product. We undertook life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare the environmental footprint of 1 L of packaged gin produced from either 1.43 kg of wheat grain or 2.42 kg of peas via fermentation and distillation into neutral spirit. Allocated environmental footprints for pea-gin were smaller than for wheat-gin across 12 of 14 environmental impact categories considered. Global warming, resource depletion, human toxicity, acidification and terrestrial eutrophication footprints were, respectively, 12%, 15%, 15%, 48% and 68% smaller, but direct land occupation was 112% greater, for pea-gin versus wheat-gin. Expansion of LCA boundaries indicated that co-products arising from the production of 1 L of wheat- or pea-gin could substitute up to 0.33 or 0.66 kg soybean animal feed, respectively, mitigating considerable greenhouse gas emissions associated with land clearing, cultivation, processing and transport of such feed. For pea-gin, this mitigation effect exceeds emissions from gin production and packaging, so that each L of bottled pea gin avoids 2.2 kg CO2 eq. There is great potential to scale the use of legume starches in production of alcoholic beverages and biofuels, reducing dependence on Latin American soybean associated with deforestation and offering considerable global mitigation potential in terms of climate change and nutrient leakage — estimated at circa 439 Tg CO2 eq. and 8.45 Tg N eq. annually

Environmental impacts of Scottish faba bean-based beer in an integrated beer and animal feed value chain

Beer is one of themost popular drinks globally and productionmethods clearly need to becomemore sustainable. The brewing of legume grains could contribute to improved sustainability through encouraging the diversification of cropped systems and by providing more nutritious local co-products as animal feed. The aim of this studywas to assess the potential environmental effect of partially substituting malted barley with grain legumes as an option to mitigate the environmental impact of beer. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed to compare a novel Scottish beer produced with malted barley and UK-grown faba beans with a traditional malted barley beer. Weconsidered beer production as part of amulti-functional beer and animal feed value chain, where coproducts are used as a high-protein UK-grown animal feed. The environmental performances of the different beers were highly dependent on the system boundaries adopted. The simple attributional LCA indicated that a barley-bean beer could offer environmental savingswhen alcohol yields are optimised, with environmental burdens that were significantly smaller than those of the barley beer across 6 categories. When boundarieswere expanded to include both feed substitution and agricultural rotations, the barley-bean beer with current alcohol yields outperformed the barley beer across 8 impact categories, with a 15 %-17 % smaller climate change burden, mainly due to higher feed substitution achieved froma larger volumeof brewing co-productswith higher protein concentrations. Therefore, brewers should consider the use of legumes in their brewing recipes to lower their environmental footprint, increasing the availability of more nutritious beer co-products as a local source of animal feed, and diversifying cropping systems while adding novelty to their product range. Different boundaries settings and scenarios should be assessed in a beer LCA, and entire cropping rotations should be integrated to capture a more accurate picture of the agricultural stage.(c) 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers

Substituting wheat with chickpea flour in pasta production delivers more nutrition at a lower environmental cost

The modern food system is characterised by 1) unsustainable agricultural practices, heavily dependent on agrochemical inputs and leaking large amounts of reactive nitrogen (N) whilst degrading soils, and 2) the consumption of energy-rich but nutrient-poor foods, contributing to non-communicable diseases related to malnutrition. Substituting cereals with low-input, protein- and fibre-rich legumes in the production of mainstream foods offers a promising solution to both issues. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is a leguminous crop that can be grown with little or no synthetic N fertiliser. We performed life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare the environmental footprint of pasta made from chickpeas with conventional pasta made from durum wheat (Triticum durum) from cradle to fork. Two functional units were used, an 80g serving of pasta, and a Nutrient Density Unit (NDU). Environmental burdens per serving were smaller for chickpea pasta across at least 10 of the 16 impact categories evaluated. Global warming, resource use minerals and metals, freshwater eutrophication, marine eutrophication, and terrestrial eutrophication burdens were smaller than those of durum wheat pasta by up to 45%, 55%, 50%, 86%, and 76%, respectively. Cooked chickpea pasta contains 1.5 more protein, 3.2 times more fibre and 8 times more essential fatty acids than cooked durum wheat pasta per kcal energy content. Thus, the environmental advantage of chickpea pasta extended to 15 of the 16 impact categories when footprints were compared per unit of nutrition. Global warming, resource use and eutrophication burdens per NDU were 79–95% smaller for chickpea pasta than for durum wheat pasta. The one major trade-off was land use, where chickpea pasta had a burden 200% higher per serving, or 17% higher per NDU, than wheat pasta. We conclude that there is high potential to simultaneously improve the environmental sustainability and nutritional quality of food chains through simple substitution of cereals with legumes in staple foods such as pasta. Breeding and agronomic management improvements for legumes could reduce the yield gap with cereals, mitigating the land use penalty. Meanwhile, the higher protein content of chickpea pasta could contribute towards wider environmental benefits via animal protein substitution in diets, and merits further investigation. Consumers who look for the traditional taste and texture of wheat pasta can achieve these aspects by cooking the chickpea pasta al dente and combining it with a typical pasta sauce, which will hide its subtle nutty taste.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Síndrome inflamatória multissistêmica pediátrica: estudo seccional dos casos e fatores associados aos óbitos durante a pandemia de COVID-19 no Brasil, 2020

Objective: To describe the clinical-epidemiological profile of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) cases and to identify factors associated with MIS-C deaths in Brazil, 2020. Methods: Cross-sectional study, based on MIS-C national monitoring database in Brazil, 2020. Simple and multiple logistic regression was performed to estimate crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR). Results: The median age of cases (n=652) was 5 years, 57.1% were male, 52.0% were brown race/color and 6.4% died. The odds of death was greater among those who presented O2 saturation <95% (ORa=4.35 – 95%CI 1.69;11.20) and altered result of urea (ORa=5.18 – 95%CI 1.91;14.04); lower in the absence of cutaneous lesion such as rash (ORa=0.23 – 95%CI 0.09;0.62), with the use of anticoagulants (ORa=0.32 – 95%CI 0.12;0.89) and of immunoglobulins (ORa=0.38 – 95%CI 0.15;1.01). Conclusion: Fatality rates was higher among cases that presented O2 saturation<95% and altered urea, and lower among those with cutaneous lesion, who used immunoglobulins and anticoagulants.Objetivo: Caracterizar o perfil clínico-epidemiológico da síndrome inflamatória multissistêmica pediátrica temporalmente associada à COVID-19 (SIM-P) e identificar fatores associados aos óbitos de SIM-P no Brasil, 2020. Métodos: Estudo seccional, utilizando dados do monitoramento nacional da SIM-P. Empregou-se regressão logística para estimar razões de chances (ORs, odds ratios) brutas e ajustadas. Resultados: Os casos (n=652) apresentaram idade mediana de 5 anos; 57,1% eram do sexo masculino e 52,0% de raça/cor da pele parda; 6,4% evoluíram a óbito. A chance de óbito foi significativamente maior nos que apresentaram saturação de O2<95% (ORa=4,35 – IC95% 1,69;11,20) e resultado alterado de ureia (ORa=5,18 – IC95% 1,91;14,04); e menor na ausência de manchas vermelhas pelo corpo (ORa=0,23 – IC95% 0,09;0,62), com uso de anticoagulantes (ORa=0,32 – IC95% 0,12;0,89) e imunoglobulinas (ORa=0,38 – IC95% 0,15;1,01). Conclusão: A letalidade foi maior entre casos que apresentaram saturação de O2<95% e ureia alterada; e menor nos que apresentaram manchas vermelhas, usaram imunoglobulinas e anticoagulantes

Socio-eco-efficiency of integrated and non-integrated systems of crop, forestry and livestock in the Ipameri city, at brazilian Cerrado

In the 1970s, the occupation of the Cerrado through the expansion of agricultural frontiers and increasing productivity also brought pasture degradation, environmental and economic damage. In this context, other techniques in addition to soil and crop management have been developed for the recovery or pasture formation, such as the systems of Crop-Livestock integration (CLi) and Crop-Livestock-Forest integration (CLFi). The objective of this study was to evaluate aspects of social, environmental and economical efficiency of agricultural and cattle farm production in the productive area of the Brazilian Cerrado based on the assessment of the life cycle approach systems. The study was conducted in the municipality of Ipameri in Goiás, in the technological reference unit of Santa Brigida Farm, for the dissemination of the CLi and CLFi systems, in partnership with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation - EMBRAPA, considering the CLi and CLFi systems, timber and grain cultivation, and cattle breeding by conventional methods. The analysis of social, environmental and economic efficiency was based on the socio-eco-efficiency tool (AgBalanceTM). This tool consists of assessing the life cycle in agriculture, supplemented by indicators of economic environmental quality, social development, and specific agricultural activity. Results show advantages when Crop-Livestock-Forest integration is prioritized followed by Crop-Livestock system comprising the three pillars - social, environmental and economic - when compared to conventional systemsNa década de 1970 a ocupação do Cerrado, por meio da expansão de fronteiras agrícolas e do aumento da produtividade, trouxe também a degradação das pastagens e prejuízos ambientais e econômicos. Nesse contexto, técnicas e manejos de solo e culturas têm sido desenvolvidos para a recuperação ou formação de pastagens, como os sistemas de integração lavoura-pecuária (iLP) e lavoura-pecuária-floresta (iLPF). O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar aspectos da eficiência social, ambiental e econômica de sistemas de produção agrícola e pecuarista em área produtiva do cerrado brasileiro baseado na abordagem da avaliação do ciclo de vida. O trabalho foi desenvolvido no município de Ipameri em Goiás, na fazenda Santa Brígida, polo de difusão tecnológica deste sistema integrados em parceria com a Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária - EMBRAPA . O estudo avaliou os sistemas iLP, iLPF e o cultivo de madeira, grãos e criação de gado pelos métodos convencionais. A análise de eficiência social, ambiental e econômica foi baseada na ferramenta de sócioecoeficiência (AgBalanceTM) desenvolvida pela empresa BASF SE e certificada por agências globais independentes, como DNV Business Assurance e NSF International. Essa ferramenta consiste na avaliação do ciclo de vida na agricultura, por indicadores de qualidade ambiental, desenvolvimento social e econômico, específicos da atividade agropecuária. Os resultados mostram vantagens qundo a integração lavoura-pecuária-floresta é priorizada seguido pelo sistema lavoura-pecuária nos três pilares - social, ambiental e econômico - quando comparado com os sistemas convencionai

Legume-Modified Rotations Deliver Nutrition With Lower Environmental Impact

Introducing legumes to crop rotations could contribute toward healthy and sustainable diet transitions, but the current evidence base is fragmented across studies that evaluate specific aspects of sustainability and nutrition in isolation. Few previous studies have accounted for interactions among crops, or the aggregate nutritional output of rotations, to benchmark the efficiency of modified cropping sequences. We applied life cycle assessment to compare the environmental efficiency of ten rotations across three European climatic zones in terms of delivery of human and livestock nutrition. The introduction of grain legumes into conventional cereal and oilseed rotations delivered human nutrition at lower environmental cost for most of the 16 impact categories studied. In Scotland, the introduction of a legume crop into the typical rotation reduced external nitrogen requirements by almost half to achieve the same human nutrition potential. In terms of livestock nutrition, legume-modified rotations also delivered more digestible protein at lower environmental cost compared with conventional rotations. However, legume-modified rotations delivered less metabolisable energy for livestock per hectare-year in two out of the three zones, and at intermediate environmental cost for one zone. Our results show that choice of functional unit has an important influence on the apparent efficiency of different crop rotations, and highlight a need for more research to develop functional units representing multiple nutritional attributes of crops for livestock feed. Nonetheless, results point to an important role for increased legume cultivation in Europe to contribute to the farm and diet sustainability goals of the European Union's Farm to Fork strategy

Evaluation of toxicological effects of an aqueous extract of shells from the pecan nut Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch and the possible association with its inorganic constituents and major phenolic compounds

Background. Industrial processing of the pecan nut Carya illinoinensis K. Koch generated a large amount of shells, which have been used to prepare nutritional supplements and medicinal products; however, the safe use of shells requires assessment. This study evaluated the toxic, genotoxic, and mutagenic effects of pecan shell aqueous extract (PSAE) and the possible contribution of phenolic compounds, ellagic and gallic acids, and inorganic elements present in PSAE to induce toxicity. Results. Levels of inorganic elements like K, P, Cl, and Rb quantified using the Particle-Induced X-Ray Emission method were higher in PSAE than in pecan shells, while Mg and Mn levels were higher in shells. Mice showed neurobehavioral toxicity when given high PSAE doses (200– 2,000mg kg−1). The LD50 was 1,166.3mg kg−1. However, PSAE (50–200mg⋅kg−1) and the phenolic compounds (10–100mg kg−1) did not induce DNA damage or mutagenicity evaluated using the comet assay and micronucleus test. Treatment with ellagic acid (10–100mg kg−1) decreased triglyceride and glucose levels, while treatments with PSAE and gallic acid had no effect. Conclusion. Pecan shell toxicity might be associated with high concentrations of inorganic elements such as Mn, Al, Cu, and Fe acting on the central nervous system, besides phytochemical components, suggesting that the definition of the safe dose should take into account the consumption of micronutrients