The Potential of Hydrocyclone Application for Mammalian Cell Separation in Perfusion Cultivation Bioreactors

Hydrocyclones have been traditionally applied for long times in many industrial fields, such as in mineral processing and mining, chemical and petrochemical, and food industries. They have many characteristics that favor them as separation system in solid/liquid, gas/liquid and liquid/liquid processes. During the last two decades, they have been evaluated for their possible application in the separation of microbial and mammalian cells. Nowadays, mammalian cells are widely used for the production of a large number of valuable therapeutic proteins, antibodies, hormones and vaccines. This review highlights the potential of the application of hydrocyclones for mammalian cell separation in continuous perfusion biorecators. The discussion will cover the structure of hydrocyclone, mechanism of separation inside hydrocyclones, different theories describing the separation process, as well as the effect of changing different geometrical variables on the efficiency and performance of the separation process. Furthermore, we will focus on the latest developments achieved in the field of separation of living cells in both laboratory and pilot plant cultivation scales

Vermicompost Supply Modifies Chemical Composition and Improves Nutritive and Medicinal Properties of Date Palm Fruits From Saudi Arabia

To meet the increased demand for phytochemicals, plant cultivation in soil amended with biofertilizers has been developed. Here, we aimed to use vermicompost as an environmentally safe biofertilizer to enhance the nutritive and medicinal value of five common cultivars of Saudi date palm; namely Phoenix dactylifera L. var. Ajwa, Hulwa, Ruthana, Sefri, and Luban. To determine changes in the fruit nutritive composition, primary metabolites, antioxidants, phenolic compounds and mineral profiles were analyzed in the fruits from non-fertilized and vermicompost-fertilized date palms. We also tested how changes in the fruit chemical compositions due to vermicompost fertilization affected their medicinal potentials. Applying vermicomposts generally increased primary metabolites, vitamins, and mineral content as well as the medicinal potential of the date palm fruits. This positive effect is possibly explained by the role of vermicomposts in improving soil health and fertility. Furthermore, clustering analyses and principal component analysis (PCA) indicated cultivar-specific responses. PCA analysis also revealed that the bioactivities of the date palm fruit extracts and their antioxidants tended to display correlated output values. One of the highly accumulated phenolic compounds, β-D-glucogallin, was extracted and purified from P. dactylifera L. var. Ajwa fruits and showed significant antioxidant, anticancer, antibacterial, antimutagenic, and antiprotozoal activities. Overall, applying vermicompost is an innovative approach to increase the nutritive quality and medicinal potential of date palm fruits

Mushrooms and Truffles: Historical Biofactories for Complementary Medicine in Africa and in the Middle East

The ethnopharmaceutical approach is important for the discovery and development of natural product research and requires a deep understanding not only of biometabolites discovery and profiling but also of cultural and social science. For millennia, epigeous macrofungi (mushrooms) and hypogeous macrofungi (truffles) were considered as precious food in many cultures based on their high nutritional value and characterized pleasant aroma. In African and Middle Eastern cultures, macrofungi have long history as high nutritional food and were widely applied in folk medicine. The purpose of this review is to summarize the available information related to the nutritional and medicinal value of African and Middle Eastern macrofungi and to highlight their application in complementary folk medicine in this part of the world

Development of cultivation medium for high yield kefiran production by Lactobacillus Kefiranofaciens

Objective: Kefiran is one of the important microbial polysaccharides of many pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications. It shows many potential medical applications as antimicrobial and immunomodulatory compound. The present work focuses on medium optimization for kefiran production using the standard strain Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens in submerged cultivation system. Methods: Different types and concentrations of key nutrients such as carbon sources (glucose, mannitol, sucrose, lactose), nitrogen sources (yeast extract, peptone, meat extract, casein hydrolysate) and inorganic phosphate were evaluated to select the most appropriate nutrients and concentrations for kefiran production. Growth curve kinetics were also carried out to compare between the kinetics of cell growth and kefiran production in medium before and after optimization. Results: It was clearly observed that type and concentration of carbon and nitrogen sources showed the significant effect on kefiran production. On the other hand, phosphate showed less effect on this process. The maximal kefiran production of about 1.25 g/l was obtained in medium composed of (g/l): lactose, 50.0; yeast extract, 12.0; KH2PO4, 0.25; sodium acetate, 5.0; Triammonium citrate, 2.0; MgSO4.7H2O, 0.2; MnSO4.5H2O, 0.05. Conclusion: The new medium formulation increased the kefiran production from 0.23 g/l upto 1.29 g/l concomitant with the reduction of production time from 72 to 60 h

DEVELOPMENT OF CULTIVATION MEDIUM FOR HIGH YIELD KEFIRAN PRODUCTION BY LACTOBACILLUS KEFIRANOFACIENS

Objective: Kefiran is one of the important microbial polysaccharides of many pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications. It shows many potential medical applications as antimicrobial and immunomodulatory compound. The present work focuses on medium optimization for kefiran production using the standard strain Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens in submerged cultivation system.Methods: Different types and concentrations of key nutrients such as carbon sources (glucose, mannitol, sucrose, lactose), nitrogen sources (yeast extract, peptone, meat extract, casein hydrolysate) and inorganic phosphate were evaluated to select the most appropriate nutrients and concentrations for kefiran production. Growth curve kinetics were also carried out to compare between the kinetics of cell growth and kefiran production in medium before and after optimization.Results: It was clearly observed that type and concentration of carbon and nitrogen sources showed the significant effect on kefiran production. On the other hand, phosphate showed less effect on this process. The maximal kefiran production of about 1.25 g/l was obtained in medium composed of (g/l): lactose, 50.0; yeast extract, 12.0; KH2PO4, 0.25; sodium acetate, 5.0; Triammonium citrate, 2.0; MgSO4.7H2O, 0.2; MnSO4.5H2O, 0.05.Conclusion: The new medium formulation increased the kefiran production from 0.23 g/l upto 1.29 g/l concomitant with the reduction of production time from 72 to 60 h.Â

Aeration rate effect on the growth kinetics, phytase production and plasmid stability of recombinant Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3)

Phytase production using Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3), a recombinant strainharboring a plasmid encoding thermostable Bacillus phytase, in semi-industrial scalewas studied in this work. Among the factors needed to be considered in order to achievehigh enzyme yield, aeration rate plays an important role. Suitable aeration is required tosupply cells with sufficient amount of air for cell and phytase production. The effect of different aeration rates, (1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 vv -1 min -1 ), on the kinetics of cell growth andphytase production by the recombinant E. coli BL21 (DE3) in 16-L pilot scale stirred tankbioreactor was investigated. The highest cell concentration of 3.81 gL -1 concomitant withthe maximal total phytase production of 15.63 UmL -1 were obtained in a bioreactor of aeration rate 3.0vv -1 min -1 . At this high aeration rate, a maximal specific growth rate (µ max )and the maximal specific phytase production of 0.33 h -1 and 4102Ug -1 , respectively, wereachieve