A biopolymer coating for plastic films was formulated based on whey protein, and its potential to replace current synthetic oxygen barrier layers used in food packaging such as ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymers (EVOH) was tested. The whey-coating application was performed at semi-industrial scale. High barrier to oxygen with transmission rate down to ranges of 1 cm3(STP) m−2d−1bar−1at and 50% relative humidity (r.h.) but interesting humidity barrier down to ranges of 3 g m−2d−1(both normalized to 100 μm thickness) were reached, outperforming most existing biopolymers. Coated films were validated for storing various food products showing that the shelf life and sensory attributes were maintained similar to reference packaging films while complying with food safety regulations. The developed whey coating could be enzymatically removed within 2 hours and is therefore compatible with plastic recycling operations to allow multilayer films to become recyclable by separating the other combined layers. A life cycle assessment was performed showing a significant reduction in the environmental impact of the packaging thanks in particular to the possibility of recycling materials as opposed to incinerating those containing EVOH or polyamide (PA), but due to the use of biosourced raw materials.

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Application of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) in weaning feed has been suggested to stimulate intestinal epithelium maturation. In this study, PHA strongly affected the fecal bacterial population structure of rats. Escherichia coli overgrowth was not prevented by probiotic mannose-adhering Lactobacillus plantarum 299v. Therefore, use of PHA in weaning feed deserves careful evaluation.Plant lectins such as kidney bean-derived phytohemagglutinin (PHA) have gained renewed interest for potential use in animal feed and infant nutrition since a positive impact on weaning adaptation and gut health has been suggested based on stimulation of the functional maturation of the gastrointestinal tract of suckling rats and piglets (24,25,34,39). In contrast, several detrimental effects of PHA on gut microbiota and physiology such as reduced growth rates, loss of body weight, diarrhea, and epithelial hyperplasia have been demonstrated in several species (4,5,12,33).Previously, PHA has been reported to dose dependently induce bacterial overgrowth in the intestine, which is associated with weight loss, malabsorption, and villus damage (2, 3). It has been suggested that PHA increases the turnover of epithelial cells, promoting the expression of mannosylated receptor glycans on the gut surface and thus leading to increased adhesion and subsequent proliferation of mannose-sensitive type 1-fimbriated Escherichia coli (31, 32). One would assume that based on this mechanism multiple bacterial strains besides E. coli that adhere to these additional receptor sites are stimulated by PHA. Therefore, the first aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of PHA on overall composition and dynamics of the intestinal and fecal microbiota of young adult rats. To this end, fragment length polymorphism analysis of the amplified 16S ribosomal terminal restriction fragment (T-RFLP) was performed and the 16S-23S ribosomal intergenic spacer (IGS) was evaluated, in addition to bacterial plate counts and real-time PCR quantification of exemplary bacteria.In addition to E. coli, mannose-specific adhesion has been demonstrated for Lactobacillus plantarum, e.g., the probiotic strain 299v (1, 29). Addition of mannose-adhering probiotics may prevent disturbances of the intestinal microbiota like overgrowth of E. coli and could therefore contribute to an improved introduction of PHA in weaning feeds. Therefore, the second objective of the present study was to assess whether an orally administered mannose-adhering L. plantarum strain could prevent E. coli stimulation in the PHA-affected rat intestine by mannose-specific competitive exclusion and thereby counteract the adverse effects of PHA.Crude red kidney bean extract containing PHA was purchased from the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Glycobiology at the University of Ghent, Belgium. It was isolated from Phaseolus vulgaris basically according to the method of Pusztai et al. (32).Specific-pathogen-free male Wistar rats (WU, Harlan, Horst, The Netherlands), eight per group, 8 weeks old, were housed i...

The biotechnological production of biobased dicarboxylic acids has recently become a hot topic in industrial biotechnology, with many investments involved in the development, piloting, and validation at demonstration scale of diverse processes using renewable raw materials. This chapter will review the main markets and applications of commercially relevant dicarboxylic acids and will briefly present their current chemical and biotechnological production processes. The chapter will mainly focus on the particular case of succinic acid. The microbial platforms that have been proposed will be reviewed with emphasis on yeast strains. The basic requirements for setting up and scaling the bioprocess and the required purification strategy to obtain an economically feasible process yielding a product meeting the required specifications will be presented. Throughout the chapter, the specific challenges of using very low-cost raw materials such as agro-industrial residues will be highlighted.

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