Use of dry-milling derived thin stillage for producing eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) by the fungus Pythium irregulare

Production of Ethanol and Biomass from Thin Stillage Using Food-Grade Zygomycetes and Ascomycetes Filamentous Fungi

“…Mitra et al [6] and Liang et al [15] have reported growth of Mucor circinelloides and Pythium irregulare in 6% total solids thin stillage, respectively. The latter was further shown to perform better in 50% diluted thin stillage.…”

“…On the other hand, the Ascomycetes include Fusarium venenatum, which under the trade name Quorn ® might be the most studied microorganism for the production of human food [9]; Aspergillus oryzae, which is one of the most studied fungal species at the industrial scale for production of various fungal products [10]; Monascus purpureus, which has been used for production of red fermented rice for over a thousand years in Asian countries [11] and Neurospora intermedia, which is used for the preparation of oncom, an indigenous Indonesian food [12]. Thin stillage from corn-based ethanol industries has already been researched for production of several products, such as high-value biomass made using Rhizopus oligosporus [5,13], butanol using Clostridium pasteurianum [14], single-cell oil using Mucor circinelloides [6], eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) using Pythium irregulare [15], and biogas [16] and ethanol using metabolically engineered Escherichia coli [17]. The production of ethanol from thin stillage is greatly interesting from a process economics standpoint since it could be recovered without needing additional steps: the produced ethanol left after the series of evaporations can be sent back into the process and follows the general stream towards the distillation column ( Figure 1).…”

Nutrient recovery from ethanol co-products by a novel mycoalgae biofilm: attached cultures of symbiotic fungi and algae

“…The P removal in the pure cultures of fungi was high at 10× CDS (10× CDS contains 818.5 mg L −1 of P) compared with the highly diluted CDS, which may be due to the low levels of carbon source and other nutrients in the diluted medium. In the ethanol co‐products, the carbohydrate, nitrogen, and phosphorus are derived from the corn kernel residues and yeast cells, while glycerol and organic acids like acetic acid, and lactic acid are the metabolic byproducts of the yeast cells during ethanol fermentation . Removal of inorganic components to a certain level and removal of COD, organic acids, and glycerol will establish a better recycling option of thin stillage as process water and avoid overflow of nutrients into the animal feed, especially P. Increase in nutrient levels may not be toxic to the fermenting yeast but the high levels of P flow to the co‐products eventually end up in animal manure causing pollution in receiving water bodies.…”

Characterization of Pythium Transcriptome and Gene Expression Analysis at Different Stages of Fermentation

“…Many researchers focused on the study of EPA production using microorganisms such as P. irregular [59], [60] and we have done some research with P. splendens RBB-5. We found the temperature was important for EPA production; the yield of EPA is greatest at 25°C in the first four days and at 15°C in the last three days and these results are also confirmed by Yi Liang, et al [60], but the metabolic pathway and key genes at the different stages of fermentation in P. splendens RBB-5 remained unknown. Therefore, elucidation of the mechanisms underlying cell growth and EPA yield and identification of new genes responsible for EPA biosynthesis is important.…”