Search results for: non-centrifugal sugar
139 Water Re-Use Optimization in a Sugar Platform Biorefinery Using Municipal Solid Waste
Authors: Leo Paul Vaurs, Sonia Heaven, Charles Banks
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Municipal solid waste (MSW) is a virtually unlimited source of lignocellulosic material in the form of a waste paper/cardboard mixture which can be converted into fermentable sugars via cellulolytic enzyme hydrolysis in a biorefinery. The extraction of the lignocellulosic fraction and its preparation, however, are energy and water demanding processes. The waste water generated is a rich organic liquor with a high Chemical Oxygen Demand that can be partially cleaned while generating biogas in an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket bioreactor and be further re-used in the process. In this work, an experiment was designed to determine the critical contaminant concentrations in water affecting either anaerobic digestion or enzymatic hydrolysis by simulating multiple water re-circulations. It was found that re-using more than 16.5 times the same water could decrease the hydrolysis yield by up to 65 % and led to a complete granules desegregation. Due to the complexity of the water stream, the contaminant(s) responsible for the performance decrease could not be identified but it was suspected to be caused by sodium, potassium, lipid accumulation for the anaerobic digestion (AD) process and heavy metal build-up for enzymatic hydrolysis. The experimental data were incorporated into a Water Pinch technology based model that was used to optimize the water re-utilization in the modelled system to reduce fresh water requirement and wastewater generation while ensuring all processes performed at optimal level. Multiple scenarios were modelled in which sub-process requirements were evaluated in term of importance, operational costs and impact on the CAPEX. The best compromise between water usage, AD and enzymatic hydrolysis yield was determined for each assumed contaminant degradations by anaerobic granules. Results from the model will be used to build the first MSW based biorefinery in the USA.Keywords: anaerobic digestion, enzymatic hydrolysis, municipal solid waste, water optimization
Procedia PDF Downloads 313138 The Effect of Costus igneus Extract on Learning and Memory in Normal and Diabetic Rats
Authors: Shalini Adiga, Shashikant Chetty, Jisha, Shobha Kamath
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Background: Moderate impairment of learning and memory has been observed in both type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus in humans and experimental animals. A Change in glucose utilization and oxidative stress that occur in diabetes are considered the main reasons for cognitive dysfunction. Objective: Costus igneus (CI) which is known to possess hypoglycemic activity was evaluated in this study for its effect on learning and memory in normal and diabetic rats. Methods: Wistar rats were divided into control, CI-alcoholic extract treated normal (250 and 500mg/kg), diabetic control and CI-treated diabetic groups. CI treatment was continued for 4 weeks. For induction of diabetes, a single dose of streptozotocin was injected (30 mg/kg i.p). Entrance latency and time spent in the dark room during acquisition and at 24 and 48h after an aversive shock in a passive avoidance model was used as an index of learning and memory. Glutathione and malondialdehyde levels in brain and blood glucose were measured. Data was analysed using ANOVA. Results: During the three trials in exploration test, the diabetic control rats exhibited no significant change in entrance latency or in the total time spent in the dark compartment. During retention testing, the entrance latency of the diabetic treated groups was two times less at 24h and three times less at 48h after aversive stimulus as compared to diabetic rats. The normal drug-treated rats showed similar behaviour as the saline control. Treatment with CI significantly reduced the raised blood sugar and MDA levels of diabetic rats. Conclusion: Costus igneus prevented the cognitive dysfunction in diabetic rats which can be attributed to its antioxidant and antihyperglycemic activities.Keywords: Costus igneous, diabetes, learning and memory, cognitive dysfunction
Procedia PDF Downloads 345137 Exploring Salient Shifts and Transdiagnostic Factors in Eating Disordered Women
Authors: Francesca Favero, Despina Learmonth
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Carbohydrate addiction is said to be the sustained dependence on hyperpalatable foods rich in carbohydrates and sugar. This addiction manifests in increased consumption of carbohydrates through binging: a behaviour typically associated with eating disorders. There is a lack of consensus amongst relevant experts as to whether carbohydrates are physiologically or psychologically addictive. With an increased focus on carbohydrate addiction, an outpatient treatment programme, HELP, has been established in Cape Town, South Africa, to specifically address this issue. This research aimed to explore, pre-and post-intervention, the possible presence of, and subsequent shifts in, the maintaining mechanisms identified in the transdiagnostic model for eating disorders. However, the potential for the emergence of other perpetuating factors was not discounted and the nature of the analysis allowed for this possibility. Eight women between the ages of twenty-two and fifty, who had completed the outpatient treatment programme in the last six months, were interviewed. They were asked to speak retrospectively about their personal difficulties, eating and food, and their experience of the treatment. Thematic analysis was employed to identify themes arising from the data. Five themes congruent with the transdiagnostic model’s factors emerged: over-evaluation of weight and shape, core low self-esteem, interpersonal difficulties, clinical perfectionism and mood intolerance. A variety of sub-themes, elaborating upon the various ways in which the disordered eating was maintained, also emerged from the data. Shifts in these maintaining mechanisms were identified. Although not necessarily indicative of recovery, the results suggest that the outpatient HELP programme had a positive overall influence on the participants; and that the transdiagnostic model may be useful in understanding and guiding the treatment of clients who engage in this type of treatment programme.Keywords: eating disorders, binge eating disorder, carbohydrate addiction, transdiagnostic model, maintaining mechanisms, thematic analysis, outpatient treatment
Procedia PDF Downloads 315136 Metabolic Profiling of Populus trichocarpa Family 1 UDP-Glycosyltransferases
Authors: Patricia M. B. Saint-Vincent, Anna Furches, Stephanie Galanie, Erica Teixeira Prates, Piet Jones, Nancy Engle, David Kainer, Wellington Muchero, Daniel Jacobson, Timothy J. Tschaplinski
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Uridine diphosphate-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) are enzymes that catalyze sugar transfer to a variety of plant metabolites. UGT substrates, which include plant secondary metabolites involved in lignification, demonstrate new activities and incorporation when glycosylated. Knowledge of UGT function, substrate specificity, and enzyme products is important for plant engineering efforts, especially related to increasing plant biomass through lignification. UGTs in Populus trichocarpa, a biofuel feedstock, and model woody plant, were selected from a pool of gene candidates using rapid prioritization strategies. A functional genomics workflow, consisting of a metabolite genome-wide association study (mGWAS), expression of synthetic codon-optimized genes, and high-throughput biochemical assays with mass spectrometry-based analysis, was developed for determining the substrates and products of previously-uncharacterized enzymes. A total of 40 UGTs from P. trichocarpa were profiled, and the biochemical assay results were compared to predicted mGWAS connections. Assay results confirmed seven of 11 leaf mGWAS associations and demonstrated varying levels of substrate specificity among candidate UGTs. P. trichocarpa UGT substrate processing confirms the role of these newly-characterized enzymes in lignan, flavonoid, and phytohormone metabolism, with potential implications for cell wall biosynthesis, nitrogen uptake, and biotic and abiotic stress responses.Keywords: Populus, metabolite-gene associations, GWAS, bio feedstocks, glycosyltransferase
Procedia PDF Downloads 108135 An Energy Transfer Fluorescent Probe System for Glucose Sensor at Biomimetic Membrane Surface
Authors: Hoa Thi Hoang, Stephan Sass, Michael U. Kumke
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Concanavalin A (conA) is a protein has been widely used in sensor system based on its specific binding to α-D-Glucose or α-D-Manose. For glucose sensor using conA, either fluoresence based techniques with intensity based or lifetime based are used. In this research, liposomes made from phospholipids were used as a biomimetic membrane system. In a first step, novel building blocks containing perylene labeled glucose units were added to the system and used to decorate the surface of the liposomes. Upon the binding between rhodamine labeled con A to the glucose units at the biomimetic membrane surface, a Förster resonance energy transfer system can be formed which combines unique fluorescence properties of perylene (e.g., high fluorescence quantum yield, no triplet formation) and its high hydrophobicity for efficient anchoring in membranes to form a novel probe for the investigation of sugar-driven binding reactions at biomimetic surfaces. Two glucose-labeled perylene derivatives were synthesized with different spacer length between the perylene and glucose unit in order to probe the binding of conA. The binding interaction was fully characterized by using high-end fluorescence techniques. Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence techniques (e.g., fluorescence depolarization) in combination with single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy techniques (fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, FCS) were used to monitor the interaction with conA. Base on the fluorescence depolarization, the rotational correlation times and the alteration in the diffusion coefficient (determined by FCS) the binding of the conA to the liposomes carrying the probe was studied. Moreover, single pair FRET experiments using pulsed interleaved excitation are used to characterize in detail the binding of conA to the liposome on a single molecule level avoiding averaging out effects.Keywords: concanavalin A, FRET, sensor, biomimetic membrane
Procedia PDF Downloads 300134 High Pressure Processing of Jackfruit Bulbs: Effect on Color, Nutrient Profile and Enzyme Inactivation
Authors: Jyoti Kumari, Pavuluri Srinivasa Rao
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Jackfruit (ArtocarpusheterophyllusL.) is an underutilized yet highly nutritious fruit with unique flavour, known for its therapeutic and culinary properties. Fresh jackfruit bulb has a very short shelf life due to high moisture and sugar content leading to microbial and enzymatic browning, hindering its consumer acceptability and marketability. An attempt has been made for the preservation of the ripe jackfruit bulbs, by the application of high pressure (HP) over a range of 200-500 MPa at ambient temperature for dwell times ranging from 5 to 20 min. The physicochemical properties of jackfruit bulbs such as the pH, TSS, and titrable acidity were not affected by the pressurization process. The ripening index of the fruit bulb also decreased following HP treatment. While the ascorbic acid and antioxidant activity of jackfruit bulb were well retained by high pressure processing (HPP), the total phenols and carotenoids showed a slight increase. The HPP significantly affected the colour and textural properties of jackfruit bulb. High pressure processing was highly effective in reducing the browning index of jackfruit bulbs in comparison to untreated bulbs. The firmness of the bulbs improved upon the pressure treatment with longer dwelling time. The polyphenol oxidase has been identified as the most prominent oxidative enzyme in the jackfruit bulb. The enzymatic activity of polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase were significantly reduced by up to 40% following treatment at 400 MPa/15 min. HPP of jackfruit bulbs at ambient temperatures is shown to be highly beneficial in improving the shelf stability, retaining its nutrient profile, color, and appearance while ensuring the maximum inactivation of the spoilage enzymes.Keywords: antioxidant capacity, ascorbic acid, carotenoids, color, HPP-high pressure processing, jackfruit bulbs, polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase, total phenolic content
Procedia PDF Downloads 168133 Conversion of Sweet Sorghum Bagasse to Sugars for Succinic Acid Production
Authors: Enlin Lo, Ioannis Dogaris, George Philippidis
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Succinic acid is a compound used for manufacturing lacquers, resins, and other coating chemicals. It is also used in the food and beverage industry as a flavor additive. It is predominantly manufactured from petrochemicals, but it can also be produced by fermentation of sugars from renewable feedstocks, such as plant biomass. Bio-based succinic acid has great potential in becoming a platform chemical (building block) for commodity and high-value chemicals. In this study, the production of bio-based succinic acid from sweet sorghum was investigated. Sweet sorghum has high fermentable sugar content and can be cultivated in a variety of climates. In order to avoid competition with food feedstocks, its non-edible ‘bagasse’ (the fiber part after extracting the juice) was targeted. Initially, various conditions of pretreating sweet sorghum bagasse (SSB) were studied in an effort to remove most of the non-fermentable components and expose the cellulosic fiber containing the fermentable sugars (glucose). Concentrated (83%) phosphoric acid was utilized at temperatures 50-80 oC for 30-60 min at various SSB loadings (10-15%), coupled with enzymatic hydrolysis using commercial cellulase (Ctec2, Novozymes) enzyme, to identify the conditions that lead to the highest glucose yields for subsequent fermentation to succinic acid. As the pretreatment temperature and duration increased, the bagasse color changed from light brown to dark brown-black, indicating decomposition, which ranged from 15% to 72%, while the theoretical glucose yield is 91%. With Minitab software statistical analysis, a model was built to identify the optimal pretreatment condition for maximum glucose released. The projected theoretical bio-based succinic acid production is 23g per 100g of SSB, which will be confirmed with fermentation experiments using the bacterium Actinobacillus succinogenes.Keywords: biomass, cellulose, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, pretreatment, succinic acid
Procedia PDF Downloads 210132 Development of Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer-Based Nanosensor for Measurement of Sialic Acid in vivo
Authors: Ruphi Naz, Altaf Ahmad, Mohammad Anis
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Sialic acid (5-Acetylneuraminic acid, Neu5Ac) is a common sugar found as a terminal residue on glycoconjugates in many animals. Humans brain and the central nervous system contain the highest concentration of sialic acid (as N-acetylneuraminic acid) where these acids play an important role in neural transmission and ganglioside structure in synaptogenesis. Due to its important biological function, sialic acid is attracting increasing attention. To understand metabolic networks, fluxes and regulation, it is essential to be able to determine the cellular and subcellular levels of metabolites. Genetically-encoded fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) sensors represent a promising technology for measuring metabolite levels and corresponding rate changes in live cells. Taking this, we developed a genetically encoded FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) based nanosensor to analyse the sialic acid level in living cells. Sialic acid periplasmic binding protein (sia P) from Haemophilus influenzae was taken and ligated between the FRET pair, the cyan fluorescent protein (eCFP) and Venus. The chimeric sensor protein was expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) and purified by affinity chromatography. Conformational changes in the binding protein clearly confirmed the changes in FRET efficiency. So any change in the concentration of sialic acid is associated with the change in FRET ratio. This sensor is very specific to sialic acid and found stable with the different range of pH. This nanosensor successfully reported the intracellular level of sialic acid in bacterial cell. The data suggest that the nanosensors may be a versatile tool for studying the in vivo dynamics of sialic acid level non-invasively in living cellsKeywords: nanosensor, FRET, Haemophilus influenzae, metabolic networks
Procedia PDF Downloads 123131 Is More Inclusive More Effective? The 'New Style' Public Distribution System in India
Authors: Avinash Kishore, Suman Chakrabarti
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In September 2013, the parliament of India enacted the National Food Security Act (NFSA) which entitles two-thirds of India’s population to five kilograms of rice, wheat or coarse cereals per person per month at one to three rupees per kilogram. Five states in India—Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and West Bengal—had already implemented somewhat similar changes in the TPDS a few years earlier using their own budgetary resources. They made rice—coincidentally, all five states are predominantly rice-eating—available in fair price shops to a majority of their population at very low prices (less than Rs.3/kg). This paper tries to account for the changes in household consumption patterns associated with the change in TPDS policy in these states using data from household consumption surveys by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). NSS data show improvement in the coverage of TPDS and average off-take of grains from fair price shops between 2004-05 and 2009-10 across all states of India. However, the increase in coverage and off-take was significantly higher in four out of these five states than in the rest of India. An average household in these states purchased three kilos more rice per month from fair price shops than its counterpart in non-treated states as a result of more generous TPDS policies backed by administrative reforms. The increase in consumption of PDS rice was the highest in Chhattisgarh, the poster state of PDS reforms. Households in Chhattisgarh used money saved on rice to spend more on pulses, edible oil, vegetables and sugar and other non-food items. We also find evidence that making TPDS more inclusive and more generous is not enough unless it is supported by administrative reforms to improve grain delivery and control diversion to open markets.Keywords: public distribution system, social safety-net, national food security act, diet quality, Chhattisgarh
Procedia PDF Downloads 370130 Dietary Modification and Its Effects in Overweight or Obese Saudi Women with or without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Nasiruddin Khan, Nasser M. Al-Daghri, Dara A. Al-Disi, Asim Al-Fadda, Mohamed Al-Seif, Gyanendra Tripathi, A. L. Harte, Philip G. Mcternan
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For the last few decades, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is increasing alarmingly high and is unprecedented at 31.6 %. Preventive measures should be taken to curb down the increasing incidence. In this prospective, 3-month study, we aimed to determine whether dietary modification program would confer favorable affects among overweight and obese adult Saudi women with or without T2DM. A total of 92 Saudi women [18 healthy controls, 24 overweight subjects and 50 overweight or obese patients with early onset T2DM were included in this prospective study. Baseline anthropometrics and fasting blood samples were taken at baseline and after 3 months. Fasting blood sugar and lipid profile were measured routinely. A 500 Kcal deficit energy diet less than their daily recommended dietary allowances were prescribed to all participants. After 3 months of follow-up visit, significant improvements were observed in both the overweight and DMT2 group as compared to baseline with decreased mean BMI [Overweight Group 28.54±1.49 versus 27.95±2.25, p<0.05; DMT2 group 35.24±7.67 versus 35.04±8.07, p<0.05] and hip circumference [Overweight group 109.67±5.01 versus 108.07±4.07, p<0.05; DMT2 group 112.3±13.43 versus 109.21±12.71, p<0.01]. Moreover, in the overweight group, baseline HDL-cholesterol was significantly associated with protein intake and inversely associated with carbohydrate intake in controls. In the DMT2 group, carbohydrate intake at baseline was significantly associated with BMI. A 3-month 500kcal/day deficit dietary modification alone is probably effective among adult overweight or obese Saudi females without or with T2DM. Longer prospective studies are to determine whether the dietary intervention alone can reduce progression of T2DM among high-risk adult Arabs.Keywords: diet, lipid, obesity, T2DM
Procedia PDF Downloads 466129 Phenolic Composition and Antioxidant Property of Honey with Dried Apricots
Authors: Jasna Čanadanović-Brunet, Gordana Ćetković, Sonja Djilas, Vesna Tumbas-Šaponjac, Jelena Vulić, Sladjana Stajčić
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Honey, produced by the honeybee, is a natural saturated sugar solution, which is mainly composed of a complex mixture of carbohydrates. Besides this, it also contains certain minor constituents, proteins, enzymes, amino and organic acids, lipids, vitamins, phenolic acids, flavonoids and carotenoids. Honey serves as a source of natural antioxidants, which are effective in reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer, immune-system decline, cataracts, and different inflammatory processes. Honey is consumed in its natural form alone, but also in combination with nuts and various kinds of dried fruits (plums, figs, cranberries, apricots etc.). The aim of this research was to investigate the contribution of dried apricot addition to polyphenols and flavonoids contents and antioxidant activities of honey. Some individual phenolic compounds in Serbian polyfloral honey (PH), linden honey (LH) and also in their mixtures with dried apricot, in 40% mass concentrations (PH40; LH40), were identified and quantified by HPLC. The most dominant phenolic compound was: gallic acid in LH (11.14 mg/100g), LH40 (42.65 mg/100g), PH (7.24 mg/100g) and catehin in PH40 (11.83 mg/100g). The antioxidant activity of PH, LH, PH40 and LH40 was tested by measuring their ability to scavenge hydroxyl radicals (OH) by electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR). Honey samples with 40% dried apricot exhibited better antioxidant activity measured by hydroxyl radical scavenging activity. The EC50 values, the amount of antioxidant necessary to decrease the initial concentration of OH radicals by 50%, were: EC50PH=3.36 mg/ml, EC50LH=13.36 mg/ml, EC50PH40=2.29 mg/ml, EC50 LH40=7.78 mg/ml. Our results indicate that supplementation of polyfloral honey and linden honey with dried apricots improves antioxidant activity of honey by enriching the phenolic composition.Keywords: honey, dried apricot, HPLC, hydroxyl radical
Procedia PDF Downloads 349128 Design, Modeling, Fabrication, and Testing of a Scaled down Hybrid Rocket Engine
Authors: Pawthawala Nancy Manish, Syed Alay Hashim
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A hybrid rocket is a rocket engine which uses propellants in two different states of matter- one is in solid and the other either gas or liquid. A hybrid rocket exhibit advantages over both liquid rockets and solid rockets especially in terms of simplicity, stop-start-restart capabilities, safety and cost. This paper deals the design and development of a hybrid rocket having paraffin wax as solid fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidizer. Due to variation of pressure in combustion chamber there is significantly change in mass flow rate, burning rate and uneven regression along the length of the grain. This project describes the working model of a hybrid propellant rocket motor. We have designed a hybrid rocket thrust chamber based on the predetermined combustion chamber pressure and the properties of hybrid propellant. This project is all ready in working condition with normal oxygen injector. Now we have planned to modify the injector design to improve the combustion property. We will use spray type injector for injecting the oxidizer. This idea will increase the performance followed by the regression rate of the solid fuel. By employing mass conservation law, oxygen mass flux, oxidizer/fuel ratio and regression rate the thrust coefficient can be obtained for our current design. CATIA V5 R20 is our design software for the complete setup. This project is fully based on experimental evaluation and the collection of combustion and flow parameters. The thrust chamber is made of stainless steel and the duration of test is around 15-20 seconds (Maximum). These experiments indicates that paraffin based fuel provides the opportunity to satisfy a broad range of mission requirements for the next generation of the hybrid rocket system.Keywords: burning rate, liquid oxygen, mass flow rate, paraffin wax and sugar
Procedia PDF Downloads 329127 Synthesis of Low-Cost Porous Silicon Carbide Foams from Renewable Sources
Authors: M. A. Bayona, E. M. Cordoba, V. R. Guiza
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Highly porous carbon-based foams are used in a wide range of industrial applications, which include absorption, catalyst supports, thermal insulation, and biomaterials, among others. Particularly, silicon carbide (SiC) based foams have shown exceptional potential for catalyst support applications, due to their chemical inertness, large frontal area, low resistance to flow, low-pressure drop, as well as high resistance to temperature and corrosion. These properties allow the use of SiC foams in harsh environments with high durability. Commonly, SiC foams are fabricated from polysiloxane, SiC powders and phenolic resins, which can be costly or highly toxic to the environment. In this work, we propose a low-cost method for the fabrication of highly porous, three-dimensional SiC foams via template replica, using recycled polymeric sponges as sacrificial templates. A sucrose-based resin combined with a Si-containing pre-ceramic polymer was used as the precursor. Polymeric templates were impregnated with the precursor solution, followed by thermal treatment at 1500 °C under an inert atmosphere. Several synthesis parameters, such as viscosity and composition of the precursor solution (Si: Sucrose molar ratio), and the porosity of the template, were evaluated in terms of their effect on the morphology, composition and mechanical resistance of the resulting SiC foams. The synthesized composite foams exhibited a highly porous (50-90%) and interconnected structure, containing 30-90% SiC with a mechanical compressive strength between 0.01-0.1 MPa. The methodology employed here allowed the fabrication of foams with a varied concentration of SiC and with morphological and mechanical properties that contribute to the development of materials of high relevance in the industry, while using low-cost, renewable sources such as table sugar, and providing a recycling alternative for polymeric sponges.Keywords: catalyst support, polymer replica technique, reticulated porous ceramics, silicon carbide
Procedia PDF Downloads 117126 Glyco-Conjugated Gold Nanorods Based Biosensor for Optical Detection and Photothermal Ablation of Food Borne Bacteria
Authors: Shimayali Kaushal, Nitesh Priyadarshi, Nitin Kumar Singhal
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Food borne bacterial species have been identified as major pathogens in most of the severe pathogen-related diseases among humans which result in great loss to human health and food industry. Conventional methods like plating and enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) are time-consuming, laborious and require specialized instruments. Nanotechnology has emerged as a great field in case of rapid detection of pathogens in recent years. The AuNRs material has good electro-optical properties due to its larger light absorption band and scattering in surface plasmon resonance wavelength regions. By exploiting the sugar-based adhesion properties of microorganism, we can use the glycoconjugates capped gold nanorods as a potential nanobiosensor to detect the foodborne pathogen. In the present study, polyethylene glycol (PEG) coated gold nanorods (AuNRs) were prepared and functionalized with different types of carbohydrates and further characterized by UV-Visible spectrophotometry, dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The reactivity of above said nano-biosensor was probed by lectin binding assay and also by different strains of foodborne bacteria by using spectrophotometric and microscopic techniques. Due to the specific interaction of probe with foodborne bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa), our nanoprobe has shown significant and selective ablation of targeted bacteria. Our findings suggest that our nanoprobe can be an ideal candidate for selective optical detection of food pathogens and can reduce loss to the food industry.Keywords: glyco-conjugates, gold nanorods, nanobiosensor, nanoprobe
Procedia PDF Downloads 132125 Jatropha curcas L. Oil Selectivity in Froth Flotation
Authors: André C. Silva, Izabela L. A. Moraes, Elenice M. S. Silva, Carlos M. Silva Filho
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In Brazil, most soils are acidic and low in essential nutrients required for the growth and development of plants, making fertilizers essential for agriculture. As the biggest producer of soy in the world and a major producer of coffee, sugar cane and citrus fruits, Brazil is a large consumer of phosphate. Brazilian’s phosphate ores are predominantly from igneous rocks showing a complex mineralogy, associated with carbonites and oxides, typically iron, silicon and barium. The adopted industrial concentration circuit for this type of ore is a mix between magnetic separation (both low and high field) to remove the magnetic fraction and a froth flotation circuit composed by a reverse flotation of apatite (barite’s flotation) followed by direct flotation circuit (rougher, cleaner and scavenger circuit). Since the 70’s fatty acids obtained from vegetable oils are widely used as lower-cost collectors in apatite froth flotation. This is a very effective approach to the apatite family of minerals, being that this type of collector is both selective and efficient (high recovery). This paper presents Jatropha curcas L. oil (JCO) as a renewable and sustainable source of fatty acids with high selectivity in froth flotation of apatite. JCO is considerably rich in fatty acids such as linoleic, oleic and palmitic acid. The experimental campaign involved 216 tests using a modified Hallimond tube and two different minerals (apatite and quartz). In order to be used as a collector, the oil was saponified. The results found were compared with the synthetic collector, Fotigam 5806 produced by Clariant, which is composed mainly by soy oil. JCO showed the highest selectivity for apatite flotation with cold saponification at pH 8 and concentration of 2.5 mg/L. In this case, the mineral recovery was around 95%.Keywords: froth flotation, jatropha curcas, microflotation, selectivity
Procedia PDF Downloads 425124 Evaluation of Certain Medicinal Plants for in vitro Anti-Oxidant and Anti-Glycation Activities
Authors: K. Shailaja
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The advanced glycation end products (AGEs) formed between the reducing sugar and protein as a result of Oxidative stress and non-enzymatic glycosylation play an important role in pathogenesis of diabetes and aging complication. Glycation results in the production of free radicals. The oxidation process is believed to play an important role in AGEs formation. Thus agents with antioxidative property and antiglycation activity may retard the process of AGEs formation. Selected medicinal plants for the present study include Catharanthus roseus, Bougainvillea spectabilis (pink flowers), Cinnamomum tamala, Cinnamomum zeylanica, Abutilon indicum, Asparagus racemosus, and Sapindus emarginatus. The crude ethanolic extracts of the selected medicinal plants at varying concentrations ranging from 1-100 mg/ml were evaluated for in vitro antioxidant and protein glycation activities by FRAP and glucose-BSA assay respectively. Among all the plants tested, Bougainvillea spectabilis, Catharanthus roseus and Abutilon indicum showed strong antioxidant activity The antioxidant activity was expressed as mg of Gallic acid/ gm sample which was found to be 4.3 mg, 1.3mg, and 1.3mg respectively for Bougainvillea spectabilis, Catharanthus roseus and Abutilon indicum. The results of inhibition of the initial glycation product i.e., fructosamine was found to be 35% for Asparagus racemosus, Cinnamomum tamala and Abutilon indicum followed by the other plant extracts. The results indicate that these plants are potential sources of natural antioxidants which have free radical scavenging activity and might be used not only for reducing oxidative stress in diabetes but also open a new research avenues in the field of Natural Products.Keywords: in vitro antioxidant activity, anti-glycation activity, ethanol extracts, polyphenols, Catharanthus roseus, Cinnamomum tamala
Procedia PDF Downloads 423123 Optimization and Kinetic Analysis of the Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch To Xylose Using Crude Xylanase from Trichoderma Viride ITB CC L.67
Authors: Efri Mardawati, Ronny Purwadi, Made Tri Ari Penia Kresnowati, Tjandra Setiadi
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EFB are mainly composed of cellulose (≈ 43%), hemicellulose (≈ 23%) and lignin (≈20%). The palm oil empty fruit bunches (EFB) is the lignosellulosic waste from crude palm oil industries mainly compose of (≈ 43%), hemicellulose (≈ 23%) and lignin (≈20%). Xylan, a polymer made of pentose sugar xylose and the most abundant component of hemicellulose in plant cell wall. Further xylose can be used as a raw material for production of a wide variety of chemicals such as xylitol, which is extensively used in food, pharmaceutical and thin coating applications. Currently, xylose is mostly produced from xylan via chemical hydrolysis processes. However, these processes are normally conducted at a high temperature and pressure, which is costly, and the required downstream processes are relatively complex. As an alternative method, enzymatic hydrolysis of xylan to xylose offers an environmentally friendly biotechnological process, which is performed at ambient temperature and pressure with high specificity and at low cost. This process is catalysed by xylanolytic enzymes that can be produced by some fungal species such as Aspergillus niger, Penicillium crysogenum, Tricoderma reseei, etc. Fungal that will be used to produce crude xylanase enzyme in this study is T. Viride ITB CC L.67. It is the purposes of this research to study the influence of pretreatment of EFB for the enzymatic hydrolysis process, optimation of temperature and pH of the hydrolysis process, the influence of substrate and enzyme concentration to the enzymatic hydrolysis process, the dynamics of hydrolysis process and followingly to study the kinetics of this process. Xylose as the product of enzymatic hydrolysis process analyzed by HPLC. The results show that the thermal pretreatment of EFB enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis process. The enzymatic hydrolysis can be well approached by the Michaelis Menten kinetic model, and kinetic parameters are obtained from experimental data.Keywords: oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB), xylose, enzymatic hydrolysis, kinetic modelling
Procedia PDF Downloads 383122 Factors Associated with Oral Cavity Colonization by Candida albicans
Authors: Nwafia Ifeyinwa Nkeiruka, Nwafia Walter Chukwuma
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Since the early 1980’s fungi have emerged as major causes of human diseases, especially among immunocompromised. The most commonly isolated yeast is Candida albicans and constitutes the 4th most common nosocomial BSI in humans. It is progressive and cumulative and become more complex over time.It can even lead to leaky gut syndrome that causes food and environmental allergies. It is worthy of note that all the available data on oral Candida risk factors in humans were documented essentially using data from studies conducted in other areas, hence there is need for comparative and complementary information from the South eastern part of Nigeria. Method: 200 subjects of all age groups of both sexes were randomly examined,by swabbing their palatine mucosa and dorsal tongue with sterile cotton wool,then cultured into Sabouraud dextrose agar plates supplemented with antibiotics and incubated aerobically at 37 degree for 48 hrs. Identification of Candida albicans was done by germ tubes tests, chlamydospores production on cornmeal agar supplemented with 1% Tween 80.Sugar and nitrogen assimilation test using API 20C Auxanogram and potassium nitrate agar. Results: Out of 30 samples that were positive for candida, 15 (50%) were candida albicans. Using the anova test (P < 0.05) this variation is significant (P = 0016). followed by C. dublinensis 3 (13%), C. tropicalis 3 (10%), C. pseudotropicalis 3 (10%), C, glabrata 2 (7%), C. parapsilosis 2 (7%) and lastly C. krusei 1 (3%).However, 53% of the patients were female while 47% were male. Among the HIV positive isolates.67% were HIV isolates not on drugs while 33% positives isolates were on drugs and the percentages of candida species in these patients were as follows C. albicans were 45% followed by C. glabrata and C.tropicalis which were 17% each, C.parapsilosis, C.dubliensis and C.pseudotropicalis were all 8% each. Conclusion: Oral Candidiasis is a marker of systemic diseases and in some cases, it may be the first clinical presentation. There is need for more intensive clinical and laboratory monitoring and possible early intervention to prevent the reoccurrence and resistance to treatment.Keywords: oral cavity, Candida species, oral Candidiasis, risk factors
Procedia PDF Downloads 357121 Unsupervised Classification of DNA Barcodes Species Using Multi-Library Wavelet Networks
Authors: Abdesselem Dakhli, Wajdi Bellil, Chokri Ben Amar
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DNA Barcode, a short mitochondrial DNA fragment, made up of three subunits; a phosphate group, sugar and nucleic bases (A, T, C, and G). They provide good sources of information needed to classify living species. Such intuition has been confirmed by many experimental results. Species classification with DNA Barcode sequences has been studied by several researchers. The classification problem assigns unknown species to known ones by analyzing their Barcode. This task has to be supported with reliable methods and algorithms. To analyze species regions or entire genomes, it becomes necessary to use similarity sequence methods. A large set of sequences can be simultaneously compared using Multiple Sequence Alignment which is known to be NP-complete. To make this type of analysis feasible, heuristics, like progressive alignment, have been developed. Another tool for similarity search against a database of sequences is BLAST, which outputs shorter regions of high similarity between a query sequence and matched sequences in the database. However, all these methods are still computationally very expensive and require significant computational infrastructure. Our goal is to build predictive models that are highly accurate and interpretable. This method permits to avoid the complex problem of form and structure in different classes of organisms. On empirical data and their classification performances are compared with other methods. Our system consists of three phases. The first is called transformation, which is composed of three steps; Electron-Ion Interaction Pseudopotential (EIIP) for the codification of DNA Barcodes, Fourier Transform and Power Spectrum Signal Processing. The second is called approximation, which is empowered by the use of Multi Llibrary Wavelet Neural Networks (MLWNN).The third is called the classification of DNA Barcodes, which is realized by applying the algorithm of hierarchical classification.Keywords: DNA barcode, electron-ion interaction pseudopotential, Multi Library Wavelet Neural Networks (MLWNN)
Procedia PDF Downloads 313120 Hyperspectral Imaging and Nonlinear Fukunaga-Koontz Transform Based Food Inspection
Authors: Hamidullah Binol, Abdullah Bal
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Nowadays, food safety is a great public concern; therefore, robust and effective techniques are required for detecting the safety situation of goods. Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) is an attractive material for researchers to inspect food quality and safety estimation such as meat quality assessment, automated poultry carcass inspection, quality evaluation of fish, bruise detection of apples, quality analysis and grading of citrus fruits, bruise detection of strawberry, visualization of sugar distribution of melons, measuring ripening of tomatoes, defect detection of pickling cucumber, and classification of wheat kernels. HSI can be used to concurrently collect large amounts of spatial and spectral data on the objects being observed. This technique yields with exceptional detection skills, which otherwise cannot be achieved with either imaging or spectroscopy alone. This paper presents a nonlinear technique based on kernel Fukunaga-Koontz transform (KFKT) for detection of fat content in ground meat using HSI. The KFKT which is the nonlinear version of FKT is one of the most effective techniques for solving problems involving two-pattern nature. The conventional FKT method has been improved with kernel machines for increasing the nonlinear discrimination ability and capturing higher order of statistics of data. The proposed approach in this paper aims to segment the fat content of the ground meat by regarding the fat as target class which is tried to be separated from the remaining classes (as clutter). We have applied the KFKT on visible and nearinfrared (VNIR) hyperspectral images of ground meat to determine fat percentage. The experimental studies indicate that the proposed technique produces high detection performance for fat ratio in ground meat.Keywords: food (ground meat) inspection, Fukunaga-Koontz transform, hyperspectral imaging, kernel methods
Procedia PDF Downloads 427119 Optimization of Biomass Components from Rice Husk Treated with Trichophyton Soudanense and Trichophyton Mentagrophyte and Effect of Yeast on the Bio-Ethanol Yield
Authors: Chukwuma S. Ezeonu, Ikechukwu N. E. Onwurah, Uchechukwu U. Nwodo, Chibuike S. Ubani, Chigozie M. Ejikeme
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Trichophyton soudanense and Trichophyton mentagrophyte were isolated from the rice mill environment, cultured and used singly and as di-culture in the treatment of measure quantities of preheated rice husk. Optimized conditions studied showed that carboxymethylcellulase (CMCellulase) activity of 57.61 µg/ml/min was optimum for Trichophyton mentagrophyte heat pretreated rice husk crude enzymes at 50oC and 80oC respectively. Duration of 120 hours (5 days) gave the highest CMcellulase activity of 75.84 µg/ml/min for crude enzyme of Trichophyton mentagrophyte heat pretreated rice husk. However, 96 hours (4 days) duration gave maximum activity of 58.21 µg/ml/min for crude enzyme of Trichophyton soudanense heat pretreated rice husk. Highest CMCellulase activities of 67.02 µg/ml/min and 69.02 µg/ml/min at pH of 5 were recorded for crude enzymes of monocultures of Trichophyton soudanense (TS) and Trichophyton mentagrophyte (TM) heat pretreated rice husk respectively. Biomass components showed that rice husk cooled after heating followed by treatment with Trichophyton mentagrophyte gave 44.50 ± 10.90 (% ± Standard Error of Mean) cellulose as the highest yield. Maximum total lignin value of 28.90 ± 1.80 (% ± SEM) was obtained from pre-heated rice husk treated with di-culture of Trichophyton soudanense and Trichophyton mentagrophyte (TS+TM). The hemicellulose content of 30.50 ± 2.12 (% ± SEM) from pre-heated rice husk treated with Trichophyton soudanense (TS); lignin value of 28.90 ± 1.80 from pre-heated rice husk treated with di-culture of Trichophyton soudanense and Trichophyton mentagrophyte (TS+TM); also carbohydrate content of 16.79 ± 9.14 (% ± SEM) , reducing and non-reducing sugar values of 2.66 ± 0.45 and 14.13 ± 8.69 (% ± SEM) were all obtained from for pre- heated rice husk treated with Trichophyton mentagrophyte (TM). All the values listed above were the highest values obtained from each rice husk treatment. The pre-heated rice husk treated with Trichophyton mentagrophyte (TM) fermented with palmwine yeast gave bio-ethanol value of 11.11 ± 0.21 (% ± Standard Deviation) as the highest yield.Keywords: Trichophyton soudanense, Trichophyton mentagrophyte, biomass, bioethanol, rice husk
Procedia PDF Downloads 671118 Prevalence and Risk Factors of Metabolic Syndrome in Adults of Terai Region of Nepal
Authors: Birendra Kumar Jha, Mingma L. Sherpa, Binod Kumar Dahal
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Background: The metabolic syndrome is emerging as a major public health concern in the world. Urbanization, surplus energy uptake, compounded by decreased physical activities, and increasing obesity are the major factors contributing to the epidemic of metabolic syndrome worldwide. However, prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its risk factors are little studied in Terai region of Nepal. The objectives of this research were to estimate the prevalence and to identify the risk factors of metabolic syndrome among adults in Terai region of Nepal. Method: We used a community based cross sectional study design. A total of 225 adults (age: 18 to 80 years) were selected from three district of Terai region of Nepal using cluster sampling by camp approach. IDF criteria (central obesity with any two of following four factors: triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dl or specific treatment for lipid abnormality, reduced HDL, raised blood pressure and raised fasting plasma glucose or previously diagnosed type 2 diabetes) were used to assess metabolic syndrome. Interview, physical and clinical examination, measurement of fasting blood glucose and lipid profile were conducted for all participants. Chi-square test and multivariable logistic regression were employed to explore the risk factors of metabolic syndrome. Result: The overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 70.7%. Hypertension, increased fasting blood sugar, increased triglycerides and decreased HDL were observed in 50.7%, 32.4%, 41.8% and 79.1% of the subjects respectively. Socio-economic and behavioral risk factors significantly associated with metabolic syndrome were gender male (OR=2.56, 955 CI: 1.42-4.63; p=0.002), in service or retired from service (OR=3.72, 95% CI: 1.72-8.03; p=0.001) and smoking (OR= 4.10, 95% CI: 1.19-14.07; p=0.016). Conclusion: Higher prevalence of Metabolic syndrome along with presence of behavioral risk factors in Terai region of Nepal likely suggest lack of awareness and health promotion activities for metabolic syndrome and indicate the need to promote public health programs in this region to maintain quality of life.Keywords: metabolic syndrome, Nepal, prevalence, risk factors, Terai
Procedia PDF Downloads 144117 Social Media as a Tool for Medication Adherence and Personal Health Management
Authors: Huang Wei-Chi, Li Wei, Yu Tien-Chieh
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Medication adherence is crucial for treatment success. Adherence problem is common in patients with polypharmacy, especially in the geriatric population who are vulnerable to multiple chronic conditions but averagely less knowledgeable about diseases and medications. In order to help patients take medications appropriately and enhance the understanding of diseases or medications, a Line official account named e-Pharmacist was designed. The line is a popular freeware app with the highest penetration rate (95.7%) in Taiwan. The interface of e-Pharmacist is user-friendly for easy-to-read and convenient operating. Differ from other medication adherence apps, users just added e-Pharmacist as a LINE friend without installing any more apps and the drug lists were automatically downloaded from the personal electronic medical records with security permission. Over and above medication reminder, several additional capabilities were set up and engaged in the platform of e-Pharmacist including prescription refill reservation, laboratory examination consultation, medical appointment registration, and “Daily Health Log” where patients can record and track data of blood pressure/blood sugar and daily meals for self-health management as well as can share the important information to clinical professionals when seeking medical help. Additionally, a Line chatbot was utilized to provide tailored medicine information for the individual user. From July 2020 to March 2022, around 3000 patients added e-pharmacist as Line friends. Every day more than 1500 patients receive messages from e-pharmacist to notify them to take medicine. Thanks to the e-pharmacist alert system and Chatbot, the low-compliance patients (defined by Program on Adherence to Medication, PAM) significantly dropped from 36% to 6%, whereas the high-compliance patients dramatically increased from 13% to 77%. The user satisfaction is 98%. In brief, an e-pharmacist is not only a medication reminder but also a tailored personal assistant with value-added service for health management.Keywords: e-pharmacist, self-health management, medication reminder, value-added service
Procedia PDF Downloads 148116 Impact of Fermentation Time and Microbial Source on Physicochemical Properties, Total Phenols and Antioxidant Activity of Finger Millet Malt Beverage
Authors: Henry O. Udeha, Kwaku G. Duodub, Afam I. O. Jideanic
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Finger millet (FM) [Eleusine coracana] is considered as a potential ‘‘super grain’’ by the United States National Academies as one of the most nutritious among all the major cereals. The regular consumption of FM-based diets has been associated with reduced risk of diabetes, cataract and gastrointestinal tract disorder. Hyperglycaemic, hypocholesterolaemic and anticataractogenic, and other health improvement properties have been reported. This study examined the effect of fermentation time and microbial source on physicochemical properties, phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of two finger millet (FM) malt flours. Sorghum was used as an external reference. The grains were malted, mashed and fermented using the grain microflora and Lactobacillus fermentum. The phenolic compounds of the resulting beverage were identified and quantified using ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) and mass spectrometer system (MS). A fermentation-time dependent decrease in pH and viscosities of the beverages, with a corresponding increase in sugar content were noted. The phenolic compounds found in the FM beverages were protocatechuic acid, catechin and epicatechin. Decrease in total phenolics of the beverages was observed with increased fermentation time. The beverages exhibited 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, 2, 2՛-azinobis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid radical scavenging action and iron reducing activities, which were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced at 96 h fermentation for both microbial sources. The 24 h fermented beverages retained a higher amount of total phenolics and had higher antioxidant activity compared to other fermentation periods. The study demonstrates that FM could be utilised as a functional grain in the production of non-alcoholic beverage with important phenolic compounds for health promotion and wellness.Keywords: antioxidant activity, eleusine coracana, fermentation, phenolic compounds
Procedia PDF Downloads 101115 Whey Protein in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Zyrah Lou R. Samar, Genecarlo Liwanag
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Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is the more prevalent type, caused by a combination of insulin resistance and inadequate insulin response to hyperglycemia1. Aside from pharmacologic interventions, medical nutrition therapy is an integral part of the management of patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Whey protein, which is one of the best protein sources, has been investigated for its applicability in improving glycemic control in patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to measure the magnitude of the effect of whey protein on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus. The aim of this review is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of whey protein in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: A systematic electronic search for studies in the PubMed and Cochrane Collaboration database was done. Included in this review were randomized controlled trials of whey protein enrolling patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Three reviewers independently searched, assessed, and extracted data from the individual studies. Results: A systematic literature search on online databases such as Cochrane Central Registry, PubMed, and Herdin Plus was conducted in April to September 2021 to identify eligible studies. The search yielded 21 randomized controlled trials after removing duplicates. Only 5 articles were included after reviewing the full text, which met the criteria for selection. Conclusion: Whey protein supplementation significantly reduced fasting blood glucose. However, it did not reduce post-prandial blood glucose, HbA1c level, and weight when compared with the placebo. There has been a considerate heterogeneity across all studies, which may have contributed/confounded its effects. A larger sample size and better inclusion, and a more specific study may be included in the future reviews.Keywords: whey protein, diabetes, nutrition, fasting blood sugar, postprandial glucose, HbA1c, weight reduction
Procedia PDF Downloads 100114 Tanzanian Food Origins and Protected Geographical Indications
Authors: Innocensia John, Henrik Egelyng, Razack Lokina
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As the world`s population is constantly growing, food security has become a thorny trending issue. The impact has particularly been felt more in Africa as most of the people depend on food Agriculture products. Geographical Indications can aid in transforming the Tanzania agriculture-dependent economy through tapping the unique attributes of their quality products like soil, taste color etc. Consumers worldwide demand more uniquer products featuring a ´connect´ with the land use systems producing particular qualities. Tanzania has demonstrated the capacity to tap into the organic world market and has untapped potential for harvesting market value from geographical indications. This paper presents preliminary results from VALOR — a research project investigating conditions under which Tanzanian origin food producers can add value by incorporating territory specific cultural, environmental and social qualities into marketing, production and processing of unique local, niche and specialty products. Cases are investigated of the prospects for Tanzania to leapfrog perhaps into exports of geographical indications products, and certainly into allowing smallholders to create employment and build monetary value, while stewarding local food cultures and natural environments and resources, and increasing the diversity of supply of natural and unique quality products and so contribute to enhanced food security. Rice from Kyela, coffee and Sugar from Kilimanjaro, are some of the product cases investigated and provides for the in-depth case study, as ´landscape´ products incorporating ´taste of place´. Framework conditions for producers creating or capturing market value as stewards of cultural and landscape values and environments and institutional requirements for such creation or capturing to happen, including presence of export opportunities, are discussed.Keywords: food origins, food security, protected geographical indications, case study analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 293113 Polymer Impregnated Sulfonated Carbon Composite as a Solid Acid Catalyst for the Dehydration of Xylose to Furfural
Authors: Praveen K. Khatri, Neha Karanwal, Savita Kaul, Suman L. Jain
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Conversion of biomass through green chemical routes is of great industrial importance as biomass is considered to be most widely available inexpensive renewable resource that can be used as a raw material for the production of bio fuel and value-added organic products. In this regard, acid catalyzed dehydration of biomass derived pentose sugar (mainly D-xylose) to furfural is a process of tremendous research interest in current scenario due to the wider industrial applications of furfural. Furfural is an excellent organic solvent for refinement of lubricants and separation of butadiene from butene mixture in synthetic rubber fabrication. In addition it also serve as a promising solvent for many organic materials, such as resins, polymers and also used as a building block for synthesis of various valuable chemicals such as furfuryl alcohol, furan, pharmaceutical, agrochemicals and THF. Here in a sulfonated polymer impregnated carbon composite solid acid catalyst (P-C-SO3H) was prepared by the pyrolysis of a polymer matrix impregnated with glucose followed by its sulfonation and used for the dehydration of xylose to furfural. The developed catalyst exhibited excellent activity and provided almost quantitative conversion of xylose with the selective synthesis of furfural. The higher catalytic activity of P-C-SO3H may be due to the more even distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons generated from incomplete carbonization of glucose along the polymer matrix network, leading to more available sites for sulfonation which resulted in greater sulfonic acid density in P-C-SO3H as compared to sulfonated carbon catalyst (C-SO3H). In conclusion, we have demonstrated sulfonated polymer impregnated carbon composite (P-C-SO3H) as an efficient and selective solid acid catalyst for the dehydration of xylose to furfural. After completion of the reaction, the catalyst was easily recovered and reused for several runs without noticeable loss in its activity and selectivity.Keywords: Solid acid , Biomass conversion, Xylose Dehydration, Heterogeneous catalyst
Procedia PDF Downloads 402112 Processing and Economic Analysis of Rain Tree (Samanea saman) Pods for Village Level Hydrous Bioethanol Production
Authors: Dharell B. Siano, Wendy C. Mateo, Victorino T. Taylan, Francisco D. Cuaresma
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Biofuel is one of the renewable energy sources adapted by the Philippine government in order to lessen the dependency on foreign fuel and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Rain tree pods were seen to be a promising source of bioethanol since it contains significant amount of fermentable sugars. The study was conducted to establish the complete procedure in processing rain tree pods for village level hydrous bioethanol production. Production processes were done for village level hydrous bioethanol production from collection, drying, storage, shredding, dilution, extraction, fermentation, and distillation. The feedstock was sundried, and moisture content was determined at a range of 20% to 26% prior to storage. Dilution ratio was 1:1.25 (1 kg of pods = 1.25 L of water) and after extraction process yielded a sugar concentration of 22 0Bx to 24 0Bx. The dilution period was three hours. After three hours of diluting the samples, the juice was extracted using extractor with a capacity of 64.10 L/hour. 150 L of rain tree pods juice was extracted and subjected to fermentation process using a village level anaerobic bioreactor. Fermentation with yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) can fasten up the process, thus producing more ethanol at a shorter period of time; however, without yeast fermentation, it also produces ethanol at lower volume with slower fermentation process. Distillation of 150 L of fermented broth was done for six hours at 85 °C to 95 °C temperature (feedstock) and 74 °C to 95 °C temperature of the column head (vapor state of ethanol). The highest volume of ethanol recovered was established at with yeast fermentation at five-day duration with a value of 14.89 L and lowest actual ethanol content was found at without yeast fermentation at three-day duration having a value of 11.63 L. In general, the results suggested that rain tree pods had a very good potential as feedstock for bioethanol production. Fermentation of rain tree pods juice can be done with yeast and without yeast.Keywords: fermentation, hydrous bioethanol, fermentation, rain tree pods, village level
Procedia PDF Downloads 285111 Cotton Fiber Quality Improvement by Introducing Sucrose Synthase (SuS) Gene into Gossypium hirsutum L.
Authors: Ahmad Ali Shahid, Mukhtar Ahmed
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The demand for long staple fiber having better strength and length is increasing with the introduction of modern spinning and weaving industry in Pakistan. Work on gene discovery from developing cotton fibers has helped to identify dozens of genes that take part in cotton fiber development and several genes have been characterized for their role in fiber development. Sucrose synthase (SuS) is a key enzyme in the metabolism of sucrose in a plant cell, in cotton fiber it catalyzes a reversible reaction, but preferentially converts sucrose and UDP into fructose and UDP-glucose. UDP-glucose (UDPG) is a nucleotide sugar act as a donor for glucose residue in many glycosylation reactions and is essential for the cytosolic formation of sucrose and involved in the synthesis of cell wall cellulose. The study was focused on successful Agrobacterium-mediated stable transformation of SuS gene in pCAMBIA 1301 into cotton under a CaMV35S promoter. Integration and expression of the gene were confirmed by PCR, GUS assay, and real-time PCR. Young leaves of SuS overexpressing lines showed increased total soluble sugars and plant biomass as compared to non-transgenic control plants. Cellulose contents from fiber were significantly increased. SEM analysis revealed that fibers from transgenic cotton were highly spiral and fiber twist number increased per unit length when compared with control. Morphological data from field plants showed that transgenic plants performed better in field conditions. Incorporation of genes related to cotton fiber length and quality can provide new avenues for fiber improvement. The utilization of this technology would provide an efficient import substitution and sustained production of long-staple fiber in Pakistan to fulfill the industrial requirements.Keywords: agrobacterium-mediated transformation, cotton fiber, sucrose synthase gene, staple length
Procedia PDF Downloads 227110 Microencapsulated Boswellia serrata and Probiotic Bacteria Acted as Symbiotic in Metabolic Syndrome Rat Model
Authors: Moetazza M. Alshafei, Ahmed M. Mabrouk, Emtenan M. Hanafi, Manal M. Ramadan, Reda M. S. Korany, Seham S. Kassem, Dina Mostafa Mohammed
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Metabolic syndrome (MeS) is a major health problem with a high incidence of obese individuals worldwide. Increased related morbidity of diabetes, hypertension and fatty liver disease, and complicated cardiovascular disease are inevitable. Boswellia serrata gum (Bos) is a promising traditional medicinal plant; it has several pharmacological properties, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antilipase activities. Probiotics (Bac) supplements have good benefits on health and MeS, whether it is supplemented in combination with prebiotics or alone. Microencapsulation helps to mask unpalatable taste and odor and deliver active ingredients to targeted organs. Methodology MeS rat model was produced by feeding rats with a high fat, high CHO diet (HFD). Bos was extracted, and both Bos and the probiotic were microencapsulated with a spray drier. Female rats were divided into 5 groups (N8). HFD control, control normal receiving basic diet, HFD treated, from the start of the experiment, either with encapsulated Bos, Bac and Bos or Bac only, all treatments were received for eight weeks (after approval from NRC animal ethical committee). Serum was collected to analyze lipid profile, blood sugar, liver and kidney functions, antioxidants, leptin, and progesterone. Rat's organs and body fat were weighed and collected for histopathology. Statistical analysis was done by use of one way Anova test in the SPSS program. Results showed control of elevated body weight, lipid profile, and glucose levels as well as decrease of body fat index and improvement of histopathology of liver and heart, especially in combination. Conclusion: We concluded that both microencapsulated Bos and probiotics have a controlling effect on MeS parameters.Keywords: metabolic syndrome, Boswellia serata, probiotic, micro-encapsulation, histopathology, liver steatosis
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