Coffee, one of the most popular food commodities and beverage ingredients worldwide, is considered as a potential source for food industry and second-generation biofuel due to its various by-products, including mucilage, husk, skin (pericarp), parchment, silver-skin, and pulp, which can be produced during the manufacturing process. A number of research studies have mainly investigated the valuable properties of brewed coffee (namely, beverage), functionalities, and its beneficial effects on cognitive and physical performances; however, other residual by-products of coffee, such as its mucilage, have rarely been studied. In this manuscript, the production of bioethanol from mucilage was performed both in shake flasks and 5 L bio-reactors. The use of coffee mucilage provided adequate fermentable sugars, primarily glucose with additional nutrient components, and it was directly fermented into ethanol using a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain. The initial tests at the lab scale were evaluated using a two-level factorial experimental design, and the resulting optimal conditions were applied to further tests at the 5 L bio-reactor for scale up. The highest yields of flasks and 5 L bio-reactors were 0.46 g ethanol/g sugars, and 0.47 g ethanol/g sugars after 12 h, respectively, which were equal to 90% and 94% of the theoretically achievable conversion yield of ethanol.

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One of primary issues in the coffee manufacturing industry is the production of large amounts of undesirable residues, which include the pericarp (outer skin), pulp (outer mesocarp), parchment (endocarp), silver-skin (epidermis) and mucilage (inner mesocarp) that cause environmental problems due to toxic molecules contained therein. This study evaluated the optimal hydrogen production from coffee mucilage combined with organic wastes (wholesale market garbage) in a dark fermentation process. The supplementation of organic wastes offered appropriate carbon and nitrogen sources with further nutrients; it was positively effective in achieving cumulative hydrogen production. Three different ratios of coffee mucilage and organic wastes (8:2, 5:5, and 2:8) were tested in 30 L bioreactors using two-level factorial design experiments. The highest cumulative hydrogen volume of 25.9 L was gained for an 8:2 ratio (coffee mucilage: organic wastes) after 72 h, which corresponded to 1.295 L hydrogen/L substrates (0.248 mol hydrogen/mol hexose). Biochemical identification of microorganisms found that seven microorganisms were involved in the hydrogen metabolism. Further studies of anaerobic fermentative digestion with each isolated pure bacterium under similar experimental conditions reached a lower final hydrogen yield (up to 9.3 L) than the result from the non-isolated sample (25.9 L). Interestingly, however, co-cultivation of two identified microorganisms (Kocuria kristinae and Brevibacillus laterosporus), who were relatively highly associated with hydrogen production, gave a higher yield (14.7 L) than single bacterium inoculum but lower than that of the non-isolated tests. This work confirms that the re-utilization of coffee mucilage combined with organic wastes is practical for hydrogen fermentation in anaerobic conditions, and it would be influenced by the bacterial consortium involved.

<p>Fermentation of coffee mucilage is a spontaneous process caused by microorganisms growing in the environment, which is influenced by factors such as the variety, climate and fruit maturity. These external factors play an important role in fermentation evolution because they have effect on the microorganism activity and the substrate transformation time. The objective in this research was to evaluate the effect of different fermentation wet process and evaluated their effect on coffee quality (<em>Coffea arabica</em> L.), as well as on organic acid concentrations and volatile organic compounds content, in the green coffee beans. The study was divided in two phases, one in which the pulping time was delayed and the fermentation methods were modified, and the second phase in which a bioreactor was used to control the pH and temperature of the coffee mass during fermentation. Two control treatments were used: without fermentation (mechanical removal of mucilage) and the traditional fermentation done in the farm. Significant differences in coffee quality were observed. The best quality was obtained from the treatments that used short process times and low temperatures. The concentrations of acetic, lactic and citric acids between the treatments and the control treatments were different. Higher contents of esters and ketones were found in the coffee that obtained the highest quality. The assessed processes lead to the conclusions that it is possible to improve coffee quality throughout introducing changes in the fermentation process, as well as modulating the acidity and fragrance of the final product.</p>

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the capability of Aspergillus tubingensis and Talaromyces islandicus to solubilize inorganic phosphorus sources, their activity under abiotic stress, and the enhancement of P availability in soils and plant growth. The P-solubilizing capability and acidification mechanism of the strains were assessed in vitro using tricalcium phosphate and rock phosphate. Independent assays were conducted with rock phosphate under NaCl and fungicides carbendazim, chlorothalonil, and propamocarb hydrochloride using a factorial design. Thereafter, the effects of fungal inoculations in rock phosphate-amended soil and P nutrition of Zea mays were assessed in a greenhouse experiment. Both fungi solubilized P in vitro via acidification through the exudation of acetic, citric, lactic, malic, quinic, and succinic acids. The P-solubilizing efficiency of A. tubingensis was maintained above 97.5% under 0.5 to 3.0% NaCl, up to 28.7% in the treatment with carbendazim, up to 5.3% with chlorothalonil, and above 96.5% with propamocarb hydrochloride; while T. islandicus efficiency decreased to 45.2% in a NaCl concentration-dependent trend, and maintained it above 80% in the fungicide treatments. The inoculation with A. tubingensis increased the available P in the amended soil by up to 65% after 30 days and resulted in 87% higher foliar P content, 111% greater plant height, and 25% greater dry weight of maize shoots. Similarly, T. islandicus contributed to these parameters in 55, 67, 90, and 17%, respectively. These findings suggest their potential as qualified phosphorus solubilizing microorganisms to develop novel and sustainable approaches for P fertilization in agriculture.

Vaccinium meridonale Sw or Andean berry has antioxidant properties due to its high content of polyphenols, as anthocyanins and phenolic acids. Polyphenols have been associated with the prevention of chronic and cardiovascular diseases. In the last years, alcoholic drinks have been studied for their composition and health benefits. By this, the aim of this research was to obtain three types of alcoholic beverages from Andean berry, which have different treatments. The methods used to obtain the beverages were macerated fruit machine (MAC), preheating of the fruit (CAL) and by combining both of them (MIX). The antioxidant activity was evaluated by FRAP, DPPH, ORAC methods and anthocyanins and total phenols were measured. Finally, the antiproliferative effect was evaluated on a colon cancer cell line (SW480). Findings suggest that ethanol content of final products is not altered by treatment of unfermented Andean berry juice (must). The alcohol concentrations for MAC, CAL and MIX drinks were 90±1.7, 89±3.6 and 94±4.1 g/L, respectively. The results showed that CAL and MIX methods favor the extraction of secondary metabolites and consequently increase the antioxidant activity. The fermentation process affected the antioxidant power and total phenolic content in beverages CAL and MIX. However, no significant changes in these parameters were observed in the MAC drink. These beverages can eventually reduce the cancer cell viability between 15.1 (20 µg/L) and 37.2% (200 µg/mL). Thus, it was concluded that MIX treatment has higher antioxidant power and it could reduce the cancer cell viability.

a b s t r a c tProtopectinase-SE was used to macerate the albedo layer from sour orange (Citrus aurantium). The effect of agitation on the process was evaluated and then, antioxidant activity of the resulting preparation was determined by mean of the methodologies DPPH, ABTS, and ferric reducing antioxidant power. The following parameters were assayed: the levels of total phenols, reducing sugars, vitamin C, total flavonones, naringin, and galacturonic acid as well as the preparation's total acidity. It was found that the use of either a reciprocal or orbital system of agitation, the latter feature achieved with flasks having internal deflectors, yielded similar maceration levels (33 g/100 g). Moreover, the antioxidant activity, as well as the concentrations of vitamin C and total flavonones was the highest with the greatest degree of tissue maceration. These results confirm the effectiveness of the method of maceration for obtaining a form of cellular disruption that result in a maximum conservation of the nutritional characteristics of the processed tissue.