Plants are composed of lignocelluloses which are a combination of hemicelluloses (15-35%),

Like energy crops, BSFL have not been previously digested and thus may offer higher bio-methane potential than manures or biowastes. However, unlike energy crops, BSFL would not compete with food crops in agricultural land usage, and pose the associated environmental issues such as soil erosion and pesticide leakage to surface and ground water (EEA, 2006). Furthermore, BSFL have a high per-acre productivity, fast growth rate, and can be grown on non-arable land areas similar to algae. However, harvesting and valorization of algae biomass require significant water use and high capital and operation costs, which make it economically challenging (Mussgnug et al., 2010).

The ethanol production process starts with growing corn, on average an acre of corn yields close to 7,110 pounds of corn that require 140 gallons of fossil fuels to grow through the use of liquid fertilizer and powering machinery (Ethanol Fuel from Corn par. 4). The corn is harvested and transported to an ethanol refinery where it is ground, then water is added to create a mash in which enzymes break down the corn into sugar, afterward the sugar is mixed with yeast and fermented to produce ethanol (Ethanol Fuel: is ethanol par. 9-10). During the process of growing and processing the corn needed to manufacture one gallon of ethanol, it requires 131,000 British Thermal Units (BTU) to generate a gallon of ethanol while a gallon of ethanol produces only 77,000 BTU (Ethanol Fuel from Corn par. 5). The net ratio of energy for ethanol production is undesirable because ethanol has barely over half of the total energy needed to produce ethanol. Other materials can produce ethanol, such as switch grass or wood biomass, however, their energy returns are just as atrocious, needing forty-five percent and fifty-seven percent more energy to produce ethanol than it provides, respectively (Lang par. 5). This net

Cellulose is built from glucose molecules bonded covalently together through a process known as hydrolysis. Hydrolysis is a chemical process in which a molecule of water is added to a substance. Each alternating glucose ring of the cellulose molecule is flipped over and the water molecule (H2O) has been split out leaving an oxygen molecule between each ring. This chain or ribbon (the cellulose molecule) will continue for 3,000 to 5,000 glucose units.

Bioprospecting is the investigation for diverse organisms that are capable of producing enzymes, biochemicals, or other compounds that can be intuitively useful in which commercial valuable compounds for humans can be obtained. For instance, bioprospecting can aid the research to find sustainable biofuels. A biofuel is a fuel produced from organic material, including biomass, plants, or ethanol. Ethanol consists of fermenting plant fibers such as cellulose. Therefore, discovering new microbial communities that are capable of degrading cellulose establishes a potential of creating biofuels such as ethanol. Additionally, the abundant availability of cellulose makes this compound an attractive, raw material alternative for fuel. For instance, this would allow the decrease in the dependence on fossil fuels, such as oil, while benefitting the environment by reducing harmful emissions into the atmosphere. If a microbe were discovered that could rapidly break down cellulose, biofuel production could increase, having a positive impact on the environment. Cellulose is composed of a polysaccharide consisting of glucose

Food and drink such as alcohol and bread rely on the process of alcoholic fermentation, so the most efficient substrate is an important factor for quick production of these products (Aidoo et al., 2006). For example, bread uses alcoholic fermentation to make the dough of the bread rise and alcohol is the main product of alcoholic fermentation. Based on the findings of this experiment, I would suggest using glucose before fructose as substrate for this process and sucrose before maltose based purely on their rates of fermentation. However, further testing should be done to test the rate of fermentation over a longer period of time as this experiment was completed after only twenty minutes of fermentation. It would also be interesting to test other effects of the substrates such as their effect on the taste of the products in the food industry which utilize alcoholic

To prepare samples was necesary to place the agarose in a water bath, until it was in a liquid state. At the same time, the granulose cells were ajusted to a concentation of 10^6 cells/ml using PMI Media 1640 (Life Techologies; Carlsbad, CA, USA). A volumen of 25 microlitres of diluted granulose cells was passed to the Eppedorf tube with the agarose at 37ºC, then it was mixed gently.

how starch and cellulose are treated to allow them to be used by the yeast?

Carbohydrates are organic compounds that consist of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. There are four different ways that carbohydrates can be classified: monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. Monosaccharides are the simplest sugars. They are aliphatic aldehydes or ketones and most have five or six carbon atoms. Oligosaccharides are two monosaccharides linked together by the elimination of a water molecule which allows the glycosidic bond can form. Polysaccharides contain more than one glycosidic bond and are the heaviest and most prominent natural forms of carbohydrates (Mcclemmon). Carbohydrates also have the potential to be reducing sugars. This means they have a free aldehyde or ketone group that is capable of acting as a reducing agent. All monosaccharides are reducing sugars and the other forms have the potential to be one. There are several different ways to identify the bonding of a carbohydrate in the lab. In this lab, combinations of several different tests were used in order to determine which functional groups were present. Benedict’s and Barfoed’s tests both test for the presence of a reducing sugar. Benedict’s reagent produces a red precipitate when heated in a the presence of a reducing sugar. Barfoed’s reagent tests for reducing sugar as well, but does not test for it in disaccharides, so this test is used to distinguish between monosaccharides and disaccharides. Disaccharides are not oxidized

The structural carbon that dominates the tissues of many higher plants is comprised in large part of lignins and cellulose (Meyers & Ishiwatari, 1993). Lignocellulose degradation in terrestrial soil systems plays a central role in the global carbon budget, but currently the fundamental understanding of the degradation of these compounds is only rudimentary (Benner et al., 1988; Lynd et al., 2002; Martinez et al., 2005). Cellulose is the most prevalent component of plant tissue comprising 35-50% of dry weight, and is generally embedded in a biopolymer structural matrix including hemicelluloses (20-35% of dry wt.) and lignin (5-30% of dry wt.) (Lynd et al., 2002), with other biochemicals such as carbohydrates, lipids and proteins comprising a much smaller portion of plant tissues (Martinez et al., 2005). The lignocellulosic component of the plant undergoes self-assembly at the site of biosynthesis and is composed of randomly polymerized polyphenolics intertwined with hemicellulose, resulting in a hydrophobic crystalline or complex amorphous structure, which protects against biodegradation. Collectively these physical properties of lignocellulose do not present well-defined enzymatic targets, making it difficult for enzymes to bind to susceptible sites and thereby conferring considerable resistance to microbial degradation (e.g., Moran & Hodson, 1989). These characteristics of higher plant structural material have been

Fig. 3b shows the effect of AA on the Q value of hydrogel. With increasing concentration of AA, the Q values of hydrogels increased and then decreased. When AA amount was more than 7 g, the Q values of hydrogels decreased because when the concentration of AA was high, the collision probability between monomers would increase, thus increasing the graft length of sulfonated cellulose, favoring the formation of a polymeric network at higher Q values of hydrogels. HIGh AA concentrations would lead to self-polymerization and lower swelling ratio. The best ratio between sulfonated cellulose and monomer was determined as 1:7.

This is proof that it is crucial to begin to create biofuels that have a lesser negative impact that can sustain the energy demands that we have today. Currently, as seen in the table, microbes have been proven to produce ethanol, biodiesel and hydrogen, which are all sources that can be used for producing renewable fuels. One of the various types of ethanol produced are C5 alcohols also referred to as isopentenols and other 5 branched carbon alcohols. As Connor and Liao suggest “Higher chain alcohols (C3–C5) contain a high energy density, and are compatible with the current infrastructure as they are less hygroscopic. These alcohols (iso-propanol, 1-propanol, 1-butanol, isobutanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, isopentenol) can be blended with gasoline and also have potential to be used as replacements, as 1-butanol has already been shown to perform well in conventional gasoline engines” (Connor; Liao, 2009). There is some controversy about how current biofuels are not efficient at low temperature; however, FABCEs and BFABCEs have low freezing points, which can allow for the biofuel to have greater performance (Tao et. al, 2015).

The aim of this investigation, was to observe the effects of biochar on plant growth.

Cellulose is the most abundant compound produced from stalks, leaves, and stems (Shankar, 2011). The use of enzymes in the food industry provides safer and higher quality products. Cellulases are enzymes which break down the sugar cellulose. Cellulase enzymes are produced by fungi, animals, plants, and bacteria. (Zhang 2013) The cellulase enzyme has been used for various industry applications such as the textile industry, paper industry, and juice industry. Cellulases link beta, 1,4 linkages in the cellulose chains (Zhang 2013). There are three types of cellulase enzymes: endoglucanases, exoglucanases, and beta-glucosidases. Exoglucanases act on the reducing or non-reducing ends of cellulose (Zhang, 2013). Endoglucanases cut the nonreducing ends of cellulose or the beta-1,4-bonds. Endoglucanases are also produced by bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals (Zhang,2013). Lastly, beta-glucosidases are produced by archaea, bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals and are known for degrading cellobiose (Zhang, 2013). All three forms of cellulases are produced from animals, bacteria, and plants. The purpose of this paper will be to discuss mainly the cellulase enzyme and its effect on the juice industry in addition to other applications of cellulase, and how cellulase behaves in combination with other enzymes such as pectinase and xylanase.

Mussatto, et al. [19] stated that SSF has great advantage which is the lower capital and operating costs due to the utilization of low cost agricultural waste as substrates. Besides, it help in the reduction of enzyme inhibition by final products due to their immediate conversion into ethanol [19]. The possibility of contamination by bacteria and fungi can be reduced by the low availability of water.

Hydrothermal treatment can be used for the on-farm processing of lignocellulosic materials. This study investigated the hydrothermal treatment of sweet sorghum bagasse (SSB) powder for the extraction of hemicellulose from it. Changes in chemical composition of SSB and the formation of sugars and hydrolytic products were studied. The optimum conditions of 12.54% (g/g) substrate concentration and 90 minutes of isothermal treatment residence time at 394 K were conducive to the extraction of 72.61-72.77% hemicellulose and producing a hydrolysate containing 56.06-63.54 g/L reducing sugars and 5.52-6.80 g/L furfurals. The treated SSB residue contained about 56.30-56.42 % (g/g) cellulose and 31.40-31.43 % (g/g) lignin in it. The substrate concentration and isothermal treatment residence time were significant in the responses observed.