This study aimed to evaluate the waste cooking oil (WCO) hydrolysis in ultrasonic system using lipase as catalyst. Lipase was produced by the fungus Aspergillus niger via solid state fermentation (SSF) using canola meal as substrate. Prior to the hydrolysis reaction, the lipase behavior when subjected to ultrasound was evaluated by varying the temperature of the ultrasonic bath, the exposure time and the equipment power. Having optimized the treatment on ultrasound, the WCO hydrolysis reaction was carried out by evaluating the oil:water ratio and the lipase concentration. For a greater homogenization of the reaction medium, a mechanical stirrer at 170rpm was used. All steps were analyzed by experimental design technique. The lipase treatment in ultrasound generated an increase of about 320% in its hydrolytic activity using 50% of ultrasonic power for 25min. at 45°C. The results of the experimental design conducted for ultrasound-assisted hydrolysis showed that the best condition was using an oil:water ratio of 1:3 (v:v) and enzyme concentration of 15% (v/v), generating 62.67μmol/mL of free fatty acids (FFA) in 12h of reaction. Thus, the use of Aspergillus niger lipase as a catalyst for hydrolysis reaction of WCO can be considered as a possible pretreatment technique of the oil in order to accelerate its degradation.
In this study, we evaluated the concentration of lipases from Aspergillus niger using efficient and low-cost methods aiming at application in the treatment of waste cooking oils. The change in ionic strength of the medium by the addition of salt and precipitation with ethanol increased the specific activity from 2.90 to 28.50 U/mg, resulting in a purification factor of 9.82-fold. The use of acetone resulted in a specific activity of 33.63 U/mg, resulting in a purification factor of 11.60-fold. After that, the concentrated lipase was used in the hydrolysis of waste cooking oil and 753.07 and 421.60 µmol/mL of free fatty acids were obtained for the enzyme precipitated with ethanol and acetone, respectively. The hydrolysis of waste cooking oil catalyzed by homemade purified lipase in ultrasonic media can be considered a pretreatment of oil by converting a significant amount of triglycerides into free fatty acids.
The intensive and abundant use of synthetic herbicides has been questioned in recent decades due to the strong dependence and also the resistance effects that are identified in weeds. Several grain crops suffer from the weed control system because many of the weeds are already resistant to the main herbicides that are used. In recent years, there has been a large gap in the market without the addition of new synthetic herbicides with mechanisms of action that differ from those already existing. The objective of this short piece is to address and overcome this challenge and bring an innovative and alternative solution that proposes a synergistic action system between bioherbicides produced by the fungus Trichoderma koningiopsis and synthetic herbicides (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, glyphosate, and ammonium glufosinate). The plants included in this study were Bidens pilosa (amor seco, or in the United States, beggar ticks or Spanish needle), Euphorbia heterophylla (adeus-brasil), and Conyza bonariensis (margaridinha-do-campo, or, in the United States, hairy fleabane or asthmaweed). It was verified that, in the application of the biocomposites in the presence of chemical herbicides, potentiation of the phytotoxic action (100%) occurred under the target plants, emphasizing phytotoxicity to the weed, C. bonariensis, which is currently resistant to available herbicides. The bioherbicides studied have promising characteristics to be explored in the biocontrol of weeds.
The present study was designed to evaluate the scaling process used to obtain fungi and enzymes from Trichoderma koningiopsis to produce bioherbicides with low levels of genotoxicity using a stirred-tank bioreactor. We measured fungal biomass and activities of enzymes (amylase, cellulase, lipase and peroxidase). Fermentative products were applied to weeds (Bidens pilosa and Euphorbia heterophylla), and the bioherbicide effect was evaluated. We found greater elevations of peroxidase and lipase activity in the scaled-up models than in those at small scale (0.15 L), even with less biomass, suggesting that the scaling was cost-beneficial in terms of enzymatic yield. Bioherbicide activity tests showed up to 100-80% phytotoxic effects on weeds that were resistant to synthetic herbicide. A genotoxicity study of the fermented extract performed in Allium cepa meristem cells showed low genotoxicity and no DNA damage. Our findings point to new perspectives regarding bioherbicides derived from fungal fermentation and enzyme yield technology, aimed at sustainable and ecofriendly agriculture.
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