Organic protein-rich feed for monogastric animals by the Organofinery process.

Nowadays, the organic farming sector is rapidly increasing in order to meet the increasing demand for organic products. However, the scarce availability of organic feed for monogastric animals together with the lack of organic fertilizers are challenging the development of this sector. In this context, a Danish project called Organofinery is focusing on developing a green biorefinery platform for the production of organic protein-rich feed for monogastric animals, of biogas and of organic fertilizer. In the Organofinery concept, the freshly harvested green biomass is separated by a screw press into a green juice and a press cake. Soluble sugars contained in the green juice are fermented by specific lactic acid bacteria, leading to a drop of the pH and triggering protein precipitation. The resulting protein concentrate is purely organic and rich in non-denatured proteins, making it a high-value protein feed product for organic farming. The residual press cake and brown juice after protein extraction are tested to be used as feedstock for biogas production and subsequent use as organic fertilizer. Protein extraction yields in the protein product were in the range of 15 to 23% for various green crops such red clover, clover grass or alfalfa. On average, the protein concentrates contained 18% dry matter and 35-40 % true protein (dry weight). Therefore, up to 10 kg dry protein product can be produced from 1 ton of fresh green biomass by the Organofinery process. Moreover, the organic protein concentrates showed high content of sulfur amino acids, which are regarded as important amino acids in diets for monogastric animals. Protein processing will be tested in pilot scale in June 2016. Around 200 tons of freshly harvested clover grass will be processed in the Organofinery concept to produce 2 tons of dry protein product. Afterwards, a full feeding experiment with egg-laying hens will be performed in order to assess the safety and quality of the protein product as organic protein feed for monogastric animals. The conducted experiments have shown the potential of the Organofinery concept and the imminent pilot scale experiment should proof its applicability to provide protein-rich feed for the farming sector

Research report Organofinery protein extraction AAU

The supply of organic protein feed for monogastric animals (i.e. poultry and pigs) with the right amino acid profile and a competitive price is one of the major challenges for organic agriculture nowadays. In this project, the development of an organic protein concentrate able to substitute the soybean protein while competing with the current market prices is assessed. The product is developed from red clover biomass, using a sustainable technology without the use of inorganic acids or organic solvents. It also contains some lactic acid, which is supposed to be beneficial for the monogastric livestock. The quality of this protein concentrate is evaluated in terms of amino acid composition. The suitability of the obtained product as feedstock for poultry will be also studied

Hvordan vådt græsproteinkoncentrat kan opbevares og bruges til fodring af økologiske grise

Våde proteinkoncentrater, der er produceret ved protein bioraffinering af græsafgrøder, kan opbevares i to måneder før direkte anvendelse i foder til grise - men temperaturen og opbevaringen er af stor betydning for kvaliteten

Influence of the development stage of the plant biomass for protein yield in a green biorefinery.

The scarce availability of organic animal feed for monogastric animals is hindering the development of organic farming in many regions. A green biorefinery platform called OrganoFinery aims at producing organic protein-rich animal feed based on organically grown green biomass. The freshly harvested green biomass is separated into a solid fraction (press cake) and a liquid fraction (green juice). Subsequently, the green juice is inoculated with specific lactic acid bacteria which ferment the soluble sugars into lactic acid triggering a pH drop and thus, the precipitation of proteins. Last, proteins are extracted by centrifugation and the organic protein concentrate is suitable for feeding monogastric animals. Green perennial crops can be harvested several times during a season. In the present study, the impact of the development stage of the plant biomass, exemplified by red clover, at harvesting time for the protein extraction yield was assessed in order to develop a harvesting strategy. Red clover was harvested at different developmental stages i.e. early stem elongation, late stem elongation and heading. Right after harvest, the fresh biomass was processed to produce a protein concentrate as described above. The green juices presented higher concentration of soluble proteins and soluble sugars with increasing maturity. After 10 hours fermentation, the pH dropped from 5.9-6.0 to 3.9-4.0 in all green juice samples and the lactic acid concentration reached up to 20.6 g/L. The highest lactic acid concentration (20.6 g/L) was achieved for the late maturity stage and was 1.5 higher than in the early maturity stage. Differences due to the development stage were also observed in the recovery of proteins from the green juice into the protein concentrate. Indeed, the recovery of proteins from the green juice was between 70-80% of the content in the green juice and with the highest values obtained for the late maturity stage. The relevance of this study relies on the fact that the harvesting strategy is crucial in order to maximize the protein yield from green biomass and, to develop an economically viable green biorefinery platform to produce organic protein-rich feed for monogastric animals

How wet grass protein concentrate can be stored and used for feeding organic pigs

Wet protein concentrates, produced by protein biorefining of pasture crops, may be stored for two months before its direct utilization in the feed formulation for pigs - but the temperature and storage is of great significance to the quality

Shelf life of the wet protein pastes upon storage

Research report. Analysis of how storage influence the quality of wet protein paste produced through lactic acid precipitation of proteins from juice from alfalfa, red clover and rye grass

Hvordan vådt græsproteinkoncentrat kan opbevares og bruges til fodring af økologiske grise

Våde proteinkoncentrater, der er produceret ved protein bioraffinering af græsafgrøder, kan opbevares i to måneder før direkte anvendelse i foder til grise - men temperaturen og opbevaringen er af stor betydning for kvaliteten

Decoding the endometrial niche of Asherman’s Syndrome at single-cell resolution

Infertility; Molecular medicineInfertilidad; Medicina molecularInfertilitat; Medicina molecularAsherman’s Syndrome is characterized by intrauterine adhesions or scarring, which cause infertility, menstrual abnormalities, and recurrent pregnancy loss. The pathophysiology of this syndrome remains unknown, with treatment restricted to recurrent surgical removal of intrauterine scarring, which has limited success. Here, we decode the Asherman’s Syndrome endometrial cell niche by analyzing data from over 200,000 cells with single-cell RNA-sequencing in patients with this condition and through in vitro analyses of Asherman’s Syndrome patient-derived endometrial organoids. Our endometrial atlas highlights the loss of the endometrial epithelium, alterations to epithelial differentiation signaling pathways such as Wnt and Notch, and the appearance of characteristic epithelium expressing secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor during the window of implantation. We describe syndrome-associated alterations in cell-to-cell communication and gene expression profiles that support a dysfunctional pro-fibrotic, pro-inflammatory, and anti-angiogenic environment.This study was jointly supported by Human Uterus Cell Atlas Project from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 874867, PROMETEO/2018/161 from the Valencia Government, IDI-20201142 CDTI from the Spanish Government and Carlos Simon Foundation, Spain. X.S. and E.F. were partially supported by IDI-20201142 CDTI from the Spanish Government. B.R. was supported by the H2020-funded project Human Uterus Cell Atlas (HUTER) (2020/2021) (Grant Agreement 874867). R.P. was supported by an Industrial Doctorate grant (DIN2020-011069) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN). N.V. was supported by PROMETEO/2018/161. J.G.F. was supported by a PFIS grant [FI19/00159]. J.L. was supported by INVEST/2022/478 program. A.S. was supported by Estonian Research Council (PRG1076) and Horizon 2020 innovation grant (ERIN, grant no. EU952516). I.M. was supported by an FIS project grant [PI21/00235]. F.V. was supported by an FIS project grant [PI21/00528]. Other data that support the findings of this study are available from Asherman Therapy SL. Restrictions apply to data access with data used under license for the current clinical study and are not publicly available. Data are, however, available from the authors upon reasonable request and with permission of the Vall Hebron Ethical Committee

Cooperative Learning In Virtual Environments: The Jigsaw Method In Statistical Courses

This document sets out a novel teaching methodology as used in subjects with statistical content, traditionally regarded by students as difficult. In a virtual learning environment, instructional techniques little used in mathematical courses were employed, such as the Jigsaw cooperative learning method, which had to be adapted to the peculiarities of the subject. The aim of this methodological project is to adapt the teaching of statistical courses to the new European Higher Education Area

Synthetic antigenic determinants of clavulanic acid induce dendritic cell maturation and specific T cell proliferation in patients with immediate hypersensitivity reactions

Background Immediate drug hypersensitivity reactions (IDHRs) to clavulanic acid (CLV) have increased in the last decades due to a higher consumption alongside amoxicillin (AX). Due to its chemical instability, diagnostic procedures to evaluate IDHRs to CLV are difficult, and current in vitro assays do not have an optimal sensitivity. The inclusion of the specific metabolites after CLV degradation, which are efficiently recognised by the immune system, could help to improve sensitivity of in vitro tests. Methods Recognition by dendritic cells (DCs) of CLV and the synthetic analogues of two of its hypothesised antigenic determinants (ADs) was evaluated by flow cytometry in 27 allergic patients (AP) and healthy controls (HC). Their ability to trigger the proliferation of T cells was also analysed by flow cytometry. Results The inclusion of synthetic analogues of CLV ADs, significantly increased the expression of maturation markers on DCs from AP compared to HC. A different recognition pattern could be observed with each AD, and, therefore, the inclusion of both ADs achieves an improved sensitivity. The addition of synthetic ADs analogues increased the proliferative response of CD4+Th2 compared to the addition of native CLV. The combination of results from both ADs increased the sensitivity of proliferative assays from 19% to 65% with a specificity higher than 90%. Conclusions Synthetic ADs from CLV are efficiently recognised by DCs with ability to activate CD4+Th2 cells from AP. The combination of analogues from both ADs, significantly increased the sensitivity of DC maturation and T-cell proliferation compared to native CLV.This work has been supported by Institute of Health ‘Carlos III’ (ISCIII) of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (grants co-funded by European Regional Development Fund: PI15/01206, PI17/01237, PI18/00095, PI20/01734, RETICS ARADYAL RD16/0006/0001); Andalusian Regional Ministry of Health (grants PI-0241-2016, PE-0172-2018, PI-0127-2020); Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Proyectos de I+D+I «Programación Conjunta Internacional», EuroNanoMed 2019 (PCI2019-111825-2), Ministerio de Ciencia y Educación (PID2019-104293GB-I00), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) of MINECO (RD16/0006/0012), Junta de Andalucía ( PY20_00384 ). AA and NPS hold Senior Postdoctoral Contracts (RH-0099-2020 and RH-0085-2020) from Andalusian Regional Ministry of Health (cofunded by European Social Fund (ESF): ‘Andalucía se mueve con Europa’). JLP holds a Sara Borrell fellowship (CD19/00250) by ISCIII of MINECO (cofunded by ESF, “El FSE invierte en futuro”). GB holds a ‘Juan Rodes’ contract (JR18/00054) by ISCIII of MINECO (cofunded by ESF). MIM holds a ‘Miguel Servet II’ grant (CPII20/00028) by ISCIII of MINECO (cofunded by ESF). ML holds a ‘Rio Hortega’ contract (CM20/00210) by ISCIII of MINECO (cofunded by ESF). CM holds a ‘Nicolas Monardes’ research contract by Andalusian Regional Ministry Health (RC-0004-2021). NMR experiments for characterizing molecule structures have been performed in the ICTS ‘NANBIOSIS’, by the U28 Unit at the Andalusian Centre for Nanomedicine and Biotechnology (BIONAND). Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málag