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Agricultural Residues (agricultural + residue)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Chemistry	50%

Selected Abstracts

Bioconversions of maize residues to value-added coproducts using yeast-like fungi,

FEMS YEAST RESEARCH, Issue 2 2003
Timothy D Leathers
Abstract Agricultural residues are abundant potential feedstocks for bioconversions to industrial fuels and chemicals. Every bushel of maize (approximately 25 kg) processed for sweeteners, oil, or ethanol generates nearly 7 kg of protein- and fiber-rich residues. Currently these materials are sold for very low returns as animal feed ingredients. Yeast-like fungi are promising biocatalysts for conversions of agricultural residues. Although corn fiber (pericarp) arabinoxylan is resistant to digestion by commercially available enzymes, a crude mixture of enzymes from the yeast-like fungus Aureobasidium partially saccharifies corn fiber without chemical pretreatment. Sugars derived from corn fiber can be converted to ethanol or other valuable products using a variety of naturally occurring or recombinant yeasts. Examples are presented of Pichia guilliermondii strains for the conversion of corn fiber hydrolysates to the alternative sweetener xylitol. Corn-based fuel ethanol production also generates enormous volumes of low-value stillage residues. These nutritionally rich materials are prospective substrates for numerous yeast fermentations. Strains of Aureobasidium and the red yeast Phaffia rhodozyma utilize stillage residues for production of the polysaccharide pullulan and the carotenoid astaxanthin, respectively. [source]

Rice straw management: the big waste

BIOFUELS, BIOPRODUCTS AND BIOREFINING, Issue 2 2010
Laura Domínguez-Escribá
Abstract Rice is one of the major foods, with consumption per capita of 65 kg per year, accounting for 20% of global ingested calories. Rice production is expected to increase significantly in the near future in order to feed the rising human population. Today, paddy rice culture produces 660 million tons of rice, along with 800 million dry tons of agricultural residues, mainly straw. This biomass is managed predominantly through rice straw burning (RSB) and soil incorporation strategies. RSB leads to significant air pollution and has been banned in some regions, whereas stubble and straw incorporation into wet soil during land preparation is associated with enhanced methane emissions. Therefore, both strategies have important deleterious environmental effects and fail to take advantage of the huge energy potential of rice straw. Using rice straw as lignocellulosic biomass to produce bioethanol would appear to be a promising and ambitious goal to both manage this agricultural waste and to produce environmentally friendly biofuel. Technical difficulties, however, associated with the conversion of lignocellulose into simple, fermentable sugars, have hampered the massive development of rice-straw-derived bioethanol. Recent technical advances in straw pre-treatment, hydrolysis and fermentation may, however, overcome these limitations and facilitate a dramatic turnover in biofuels production in the near future. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [source]

Use of Renewable Raw Materials in the Chemical Industry , Beyond Sugar and Starch

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Issue 5 2008
K. Muffler
Abstract Classical energy sources such as petroleum oil and natural gas make up the fundamental materials on which modern industrial chemical parks are based. According to the finite availability of these consuetudinary resources and due to the increasing demand for energy from developing countries and the related rise in prices of oil and natural gas, renewable resources must be considered as valuable alternatives. Discussions about climate change with regard to alternatives in energy production are preceded very fervidly but alternatives have to be examined from a matter-of-fact based economic and scientific point of view. Therefore, this review is focussed on alternative sources such as wood and other agricultural residues with respect to their potential as future energy resources as well as building blocks for chemical synthesis processes. [source]