Global demand for bio-fuels continues unabated. Rising concerns over environmental pollution and global warming have encouraged the movement to alternate fuels, the world ethanol market is projected to reach 86 billion litres this year. Bioethanol is currently produced from land-based crops such as corn and sugar cane. A continued use of these crops drives the food versus fuel debate. An alternate feed-stock which is abundant and carbohydrate-rich is necessary. The production of such a crop should be sustainable, and, reduce competition with production of food, feed, and industrial crops, and not be dependent on agricultural inputs (pesticides, fertilizer, farmable land, water). Marine biomass could meet these challenges, being an abundant and carbon neutral renewable resource with potential to reduce green house gas (GHG) emissions and the man-made impact on climate change. Here we examine the current cultivation technologies for marine biomass and the environmental and economic aspects of using brown seaweeds for bio-ethanol production.
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This article deals with aspects of mass production of marine macroalgae, also known as ‘seaweeds’. This term traditionally includes only macroscopic, multicellular marine red, green, and brown algae. Seaweeds are abundant and ancient autotrophic organisms that can be found in virtually all near-shore aquatic ecosystems and some may attain a length of 50m or more. Despite the variety of life forms and the thousand of seaweed species described, seaweed aquaculture is presently based in a relatively small group of about 100 taxa. Of these, five genera (Laminaria, Undaria, Porphyra, Eucheuma/Kappaphycus, and Gracilaria) account for about 98% of world seaweed production. The basic cultivation techniques of these genera are described.
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Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms that can be found in diverse natural environments, such as water, rocks, and soil. They present higher photosynthetic efficiency than terrestrial plants, and are responsible for a significant fraction of the world oxygen production. The high growth rate attributed to microalgae gives them irrefutable economic potential. Besides the production of high-value products (for human and animal nutrition, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals), they have recently been studied for some environmental and energy applications: (1) CO2 capture; (2) bioenergy production; and (3) nutrient removal from wastewater. However, none of these applications are economically viable, mainly due to the requirements of water, nutrients, and energy. Thus, this chapter gives an overview of all steps of the microalgal production chain, presenting a variety of research advances.
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In order to determine the quantity of protein in food, it is important to have standardized analytical methods. Several methods exist that are used in different food industries to quantify protein content, including the Kjeldahl, Lowry, Bradford and total amino acid content methods. The correct determination of the protein content of foods is important as, often, as is the case with milk, it determines the economic value of the food product and it can impact the economic feasibility of new industries for alternative protein production. This editorial provides an overview of different protein determination methods and describes their advantages and disadvantages
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Seaweed cultivation is a growth market worldwide. Seaweed has multiple uses and is a promising resource to contribute to the societal challenges of food security and climate change in the future. However, the mechanisation of seaweed cultivation is essential for further growth, especially in Europe or comparable regions with high labor costs. This development is comparable to the mechanisation of land based agriculture which started with the Industrial Revolution. The seaweed industry will make a similar transition from small scale artisanal cultivation to large scale fully mechansised farming, and we expect this to happen withing the timespan of a few decades. This is going to take place at sea, in the hostile marine environment, and it has to take place in a sustainable way. IHC adressses this formidable challenge from its strenghts and maritime engineering background. Seaweed cultivation mechanisation knowledge is being developed and and combined with our profound understanding of marine engineering. This is necessary in order to realise equipment which fullJls its harvesting functionalities and survive the unforgiving sea environment. IHC MTI, the R&D centre of Royal IHC, has developed a Jrst prototype harvesting machine and tested it to try out and understand harvesting principles and also to demonstrate the potential of mechanised harvesting. The initial prototype realises a cost reduction of 50% and harvesting time reduction of 90%, even at this early stage without impeding sustainability aspects. This presentation exhibits the results of the initial trials with the harvesting prototype. In addition we adress the next steps and technological challenges to achieve mechanised seaweed farming.
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Seaweeds are one of the most important living resources of the ocean and are one of the largest producers of biomass in the marine environment. They produce a wide variety of chemically active metabolites in their surroundings, potentially as an aid to protect themselves against the other settling organisms. These biogenic molecules impart the uniqueness of chemical diversity in seaweeds compared to other plants. Which owe them multitude of medicinal properties, because of that they are often been used as a food for people who are sick and has been credited with health-giving properties and have gained importance as medicinal sources. Present review highlights a state of art on the medicinal value of seaweeds and their exploitation scenario on a global scale.
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This project provided fundamental information on the ability of native marine macroalgae, commonly known as seaweed, to tolerate, take up, and metabolize the explosive compound 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) dissolved in seawater.
Research Objectives:
1) Determine the intrinsic capacity of tissue cultures derived from three model marine macroalgae to remove TNT dissolved in seawater;
2) Measure the kinetics of TNT metabolite formation and elucidate the pathways for TNT biotransformation within these organisms;
3) Assess the viability of marine seaweeds following TNT exposure and uptake. -
This edited book, is a collection of 25 chapters describing the recent advancements in the application of microbial technology in the food and pharmacology sector. The main focus of this book is application of microbes, food preservation techniques utilizing microbes, probiotics, seaweeds, algae, enzymatic abatement of urethane in fermentation of beverages, bioethanol production, pesticides, probiotic biosurfactants, drought tolerance, synthesis of application of oncolytic viruses in cancer treatment, microbe based metallic nanoparticles, agro chemicals, endophytes, metabolites, antibiotics etc. This book highlighted the significant aspects of the vast subject area of microbial biotechnology and their potential applications in food and pharmacology with various topics from eminent experts around the World. This book would serve as an excellent reference book for researchers and students in the Food Science, Food Biotechnology, Microbiology and Pharmaceutical fields.
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The global demand for clean products obtained from biobased resources has increased significantly with the rapid growth of the world’s population. In this context, microbially-produced compounds are highly attractive for their safety, reliability, being environment friendly and sustainability. Nevertheless, the cost of the carbon sources required for such approaches accounts for greater than 60% of the total expenses, which further limits the scaling up of industries. In recent years, algae have been used in numerous industrial areas because of their rapid growth rate, easy cultivation, ubiquity and survival in harsh conditions. Over the past decade, notable advances have been observed in the extraction of high-value compounds from algae biomass (ABs). However, few studies have investigated ABs as green substrates for microbial conversion into value-added products. This review presents the potential of ABs as the substrates for microbial growth to produce industrially-important products, which sheds light on the importance of the symbiotic relationship between ABs and microbial species. Moreover, the successful algal-bacterial gene transformation paves the way for accommodating green technology advancements. With the escalated need for natural pigments, biosurfactants, natural plastics and biofuels, ABs have been new resources for microbial biosynthesis of these value-added products, resolving the problem of high carbon consumption. In this review, the fermentative routes, process conditions, and accessibility of sugars are discussed, together with the related metabolic pathways and involved genes. To conclude, the full potential of ABs needs to be explored to support microbial green factories, producing novel bioactive compounds to meet global needs.
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Aquaculture is an industry with the capacity for further growth that can contribute to sustainable food systems to feed an increasing global population. Sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) is of particular interest for farmers as a fast-growing species that benefits ecosystems as a primary producer. However, as a new industry in the U.S., farmers interested in growing S. latissima lack data on growth dynamics. To address this gap, we calibrated a Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) model to data from the literature and field-based growth experiments in Rhode Island (U.S.A.). Environmental variables forcing model dynamics include temperature, irradiance, dissolved inorganic carbon concentration, and nitrate and nitrite concentration. The modeled estimates for field S. latissima blade length were accurate despite underestimation of early season growth. In some simulations, winter growth was limited by the rate at which the light-dependent reaction of photosynthesis, the first step of carbon assimilation, was performed. Nitrogen (N) reserves were also an important limiting factor especially later in the spring season as irradiance increased, although the low resolution of N forcing concentrations might restrict the model accuracy. Since this model is focused on S. latissima grown in an aquaculture setting with winter and spring growth, no specific assumptions were made to include summer growth patterns such as tissue loss or reproduction. The results indicate that this mechanistic model for S. latissima captures growth dynamics and blade length at the time of harvest, thus it could be used for spatial predictions of S. latissima aquaculture production across a range of environmental conditions and locations. The model could be a particularly useful tool for further development of sustainable ocean food production systems involving seaweed.
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Marine Agronomy Group, CAFNRM, UH-Hilo
200 W. Kawili st., HI 96720, USA
Contact: Marine.Agronomy.Group@gmail.com
Funding for this web portal is provided by the World Wildlife Fund and the University of Hawaii-Hilo.