Microalgae Grown in Cheese Whey and β-galactosidase Production

Abstract

O soro de queijo é o principal subproduto da indústria de laticínios e a alta demanda biológica e química de oxigênio (DBO e DQO) pode causar vários problemas ambientais. Estudos recentes apontam os potenciais usos biotecnológicos do soro de queijo, como o meio de fermentação, para a produção de β-galactosidase. A enzima é muito importante para hidrólise da lactose em galactose e glicose, monossacarídeos mais digeríveis pelo organismo humano. As microalgas podem produzir a β-galactosidase através de processos fermentativos. O objetivo da presente revisão é descrever sucintamente o progresso recente sobre o uso de microalgas na produção de β-galactosidase. No geral, o artigo resume o estado atual do conhecimento sobre microalgas, beta-galactosidase e soro de queijo como fonte de carbono para o crescimento de microalgas e dentro do conceito de economia circular. No entanto, ainda são necessários estudos adicionais sobre as melhores condições de cultivo de microalgas com o objetivo de produzir a enzima em questão.
 
 Palavras-chave: Indústria de lacticínio. Biotecnologia. Economia Circular. Valor Agregado.
 
 Abstract
 Cheese whey is the main by-product of dairy industry and due to high biological and chemical oxygen demands (BOD and COD) can cause several environmental problems. Recent studies have pointed the biotechnological potential uses of cheese whey such as fermentation medium to the β-galactosidase production. The enzyme is very important to breakdown the lactose into galactose and glucose, monosaccharide sugars more digestible than lactose. Microalgae can produce β-galactosidase through fermentative processes. The purpose of the current mini-review is to succinctly describe recent progress about the use of microalgae to β-galactosidase production. Overall, the paper summarizes the current state of knowledge about microalgae, beta-galactosidase and cheese whey as carbon source to growing of microalgae and within circular economy concept. However, there is still a need for further studies regarding the best microalgae cultivation conditions with the objective of producing the enzyme in question.
 
 Keywords: Dairy industry. Biotechnology. Circular Economy. Added Value.
 

Enhancement of indigenous microalgae culture using cheese whey as growth media for bioenergy and coproducts production

“…Lactose degradation in microalgae is tightly connected with the strain's ability to produce β-galactosidase which enables lactose hydrolysis to glucose and galactose [14]. It was demonstrated that mixotrophy mode using cheese whey is the most efficient growth mode for Chlorella sp [15] [16]. However, there is a few works reporting the use of cheese whey for Chlorella vulgaris cultivation.…”

Microalgae-Based Dosimetry for Monitoring Blue Light Exposure

“…Their ubiquitous presence spans various habitats, from lakes and oceans to wastewater facilities and even deserts 2 . They have gained signi cant attention for their potential applications in various elds, including bioremediation, biofuel production, environmental agents for wastewater treatment, cosmetics and food production 3,4 . Microalgae are cultivated as a source of highly valuable molecules, such as polyunsaturated fatty acid oils, pigments, and stable isotope biochemicals 5 .…”

What do patents tell us about microalgae in agriculture?

“…Increasing agricultural production while preserving the environment has been a constant challenge for scientific research, as agricultural production systems need to meet the growing demand for food with the introduction of sustainable technologies (Mógor et al 2019;Chiaiese et al 2018) that demand natural inputs to the detriment of synthetics. In addition, the agroindustry generates large amounts of waste that can cause serious environmental problems if discarded incorrectly (Pereira et al 2021;Bosso et al 2020).…”

“…To overcome these challenges, microalgal applications are gaining interest in agriculture since waste generated by the agroindustry showed great potential for microalgal mixotrophic cultivation (Pereira et al 2021). Several studies have been carried out to evaluate the efficiency of microalgal biomass production under different agro-industrial waste, such as cheese whey (Bosso et al 2020;Patel et al 2020) and desalination concentrate wastewater (Matos et al 2018). Microalgae are also expanding in agriculture due to the increased use of sustainable products such as biopesticides and biofertilizers that are being introduced into the market to replace agrochemicals, which are detrimental to the environment (Guo et al 2020).…”