Fungal Cell Biomass From Enzyme Industry as a Sustainable Source of Hydrocolloids

Abstract

Industrial enzyme production yields vast amounts of cell biomass as by-product that is treated as waste, which brings costs and causes an environmental burden. Nonetheless with the current drive toward resource efficiency, conversion of the cell biomass into value-added products would provide an economically viable alternative for the industry. The biomass is composed of fungal cells, containing potentially valuable heteropolysaccharides and glycoproteins, but a technology is lacking to valorize them. For the first time, we characterized the composition of the biomass, extracted biopolymers by aqueous and alkaline treatments, and studied their behavior as novel hydrocolloids in multiphase systems. Alkaline extraction yielded a carbohydrate content of 37.5% and an amino acid content of 27.6%, whereas water extraction yielded 6.6 and 61.3%, respectively. Emulsions prepared with alkaline extracts were relatively stable during a 15-day storage period. We demonstrated that the costly waste management in enzyme production can be replaced by sustainable fractioning, and these fractions can be valorized.

A Comprehensive Insight into Fungal Enzymes: Structure, Classification, and Their Role in Mankind’s Challenges

“…Nikkilä and his colleagues evaluated the nutritional quality of the aqueous and alkaline treated fungal-biomass resulting as a byproduct from the enzyme industry. The extracted fungalbiomass samples revealed high contents of both polysaccharides and glycoproteins with carbohydrate and amino acid contents of 37.5 and 27.6%, respectively, for alkaline-treated fungal biomass, where the aqueous ex-traction yielded 6.6 and 61.3% of carbohydrate and amino acid contents, respectively [219]. In the same regard, mushroom cultivation at the industrial level produces huge amounts of a byproduct called spent mushroom substrate comprises a mixture of remaining substrate and mushroom mycelia [222].…”

“…The huge cell mass and byproducts generated during enzyme production through fungi also represent a considerable environmental risk and imply an additional cost for management and control [219]. Several attempts were applied to implement such byproducts as bio-fertilizers [220] or in synthetic dye and heavy metal removal [221].…”

Zinc chloride activated carbon from Pleurotus floridanus biomass for piroxicam adsorption

“…Unfortunately, the adverse effects of PPCPs are lately documented, and there is still a lack of available treatment methods for safe disposal. Piroxicam or PRX (4-hydroxy-2-methyl-1,1-dioxo-N-(pyridin-2-yl)-2H-1⊗ 6 ,2benzothiazine-3-carboxamide) has been detected in rivers downstream of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) at 0.1 ± 0.0 ng L −1 , influent raw hospital wastewater at 6475 ± 1018 ng L −1 and effluent of WWTPs at 355 ± 14 ng L −1 . 4 PRX is detected in the environment because of its analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic properties.…”

“…due to their high operational stability and ease of production, as well as due to their use being a greener approach which is more efficient than chemical methods. [6][7][8] According to reports on the global enzyme market, it is expected to grow from $5.01 billion in 2016 to $6.32 billion in 2021. 7 As the enzyme production increases, a large amount of biomass will also be generated which is considered a waste if left unutilized and leads to an economic burden.…”

“…7 As the enzyme production increases, a large amount of biomass will also be generated which is considered a waste if left unutilized and leads to an economic burden. 6 Adsorption is one of the simple, economical and effective ways of cleaning accumulated toxic pollutants by physical or chemical methods. To increase the efficiency of separation, porous sorbents are widely recommended.…”