Recent advancements in natural dye applications: a review

Microalgae metabolites: A rich source for food and medicine

Green microalgae for several decades have been produced for commercial exploitation, with applications ranging from health food for human consumption, aquaculture and animal feed, to coloring agents, cosmetics and others. Several products from green algae which are used today consist of secondary metabolites that can be extracted from the algal biomass. The best known examples are the carotenoids astaxanthin and β-carotene, which are used as coloring agents and for health-promoting purposes. Many species of green algae are able to produce valuable metabolites for different uses; examples are antioxidants, several different carotenoids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, anticancer and antiviral drugs. In many cases, these substances are secondary metabolites that are produced when the algae are exposed to stress conditions linked to nutrient deprivation, light intensity, temperature, salinity and pH. In other cases, the metabolites have been detected in algae grown under optimal conditions, and little is known about optimization of the production of each product, or the effects of stress conditions on their production. Some green algae have shown the ability to produce significant amounts of hydrogen gas during sulfur deprivation, a process which is currently studied extensively worldwide. At the moment, the majority of research in this field has focused on the model organism, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, but other species of green algae also have this ability. Currently there is little information available regarding the possibility for producing hydrogen and other valuable metabolites in the same process. This study aims to explore which stress conditions are known to induce the production of different valuable products in comparison to stress reactions leading to hydrogen production. Wild type species of green microalgae with known ability to produce high amounts of certain valuable metabolites are listed and linked to species with ability to produce hydrogen during general anaerobic conditions, and during sulfur deprivation. Species used today for commercial purposes are also described. This information is analyzed in order to form a basis for selection of wild type species for a future multi-step process, where hydrogen production from solar energy is combined with the production of valuable metabolites and other commercial uses of the algal biomass.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3109/07388551.2012.681625

Potential for green microalgae to produce hydrogen, pharmaceuticals and other high value products in a combined process

The anaerobic digestion technology has been in existence for centuries and its underlying theory established for decades. It is considered a useful technology for the generation of renewable energy ...

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A Review of the Chemistry of Anaerobic Digestion : Methods of Accelerating and Optimizing Process Efficiency

A field of dreams: Lignin valorization into chemicals, materials, fuels, and health-care products

The biotechnological production of fragrances is a recent trend that has expanded rapidly in the last two decades. Vanillin is the second most popular flavoring agent after saffron and is extensively used in various applications, e.g., as a food additive in food and beverages and as a masking agent in various pharmaceutical formulations. It is also considered a valuable product for other applications, such as metal plating and the production of other flavoring agents, herbicides, ripening agents, antifoaming agents, and personal and home-use products (such as in deodorants, air fresheners, and floor-polishing agents). In general, three types of vanillin, namely natural, biotechnological, and chemical/synthetic, are available on the market. However, only natural and nature-identical (biotechnologically produced from ferulic acid only) vanillins are considered as food-grade additives by most food-safety control authorities worldwide. In the present review, we summarize recent trends in fermentation technology for vanillin production and discuss the importance of the choice of raw materials for the economically viable production of vanillin. We also describe the key enzymes used in the biotechnological production of vanillin as well as their underlying genes. Research to advance our understanding of the molecular regulation of different pathways involved in vanillin production from ferulic acid is still ongoing. The enhanced knowledge is expected to offer new opportunities for the application of metabolic engineering to optimize the production of nature-identical vanillin. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Vanillin biotechnology: the perspectives and future.

Color becomes the most sensitive part of any commodity not only for its appeal but also it enhances consumer acceptability. In addition, the color of a food substance is important to indicate its freshness and safety that are also indices of good aesthetic and sensorial values. For natural color and additives, adherence to the norms of biosafety protocol, are limited. The demand for natural source of such compounds is increasing day by day because of awareness of positive health benefit out of natural compounds. It therefore, necessitates looking into natural sources of food grade colorants and their use potentials. It is found more justified to use the term biocolorant instead of biopigment. Since pigments are mostly water insoluble with exceptions of certain pigments of biological origin. This article includes the advancements of process development and other biotechnological aspects of natural food grade colorants.

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Biotechnological potential of natural food grade biocolorants

Biogas is a combination of methane, CO2, nitrogen, H2S and traces of few other gases. Almost any organic waste can be biologically transformed into biogas and other energy-rich organic compounds through the process of anaerobic digestion (AD) and thus helping in sustainable waste management. Although microbes are involved in each step of AD, knowledge about those microbial consortia is limited due to the lack of phylogenetic and metabolic data of predominantly unculturable microorganisms. However, culture-independent methods like PCR-based ribotyping has been successfully employed to get information about the microbial consortia involved in AD. Microbes identified have been found to belong mainly to the bacterial phyla of Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. Among the archaeal population, the majority have been found to be methanogens (mainly unculturable), the remaining being thermophilic microbes. Thus, the AD process as a whole could be controlled by regulating the microbial consortia involved in it. Optimization in the feedstock, pH, temperature and other physical parameters would be beneficial for the microbial growth and viability and thus helpful for biogas production in AD. Besides, the biogas production is also dependent upon the activity of several key genes, ion-specific transporters and enzymes, like genes coding for methyl-CoM reductase, formylmethanofuran transferase, formate dehydrogenase present in the microbes. Fishing for these high-efficiency genes will ultimately increase the biogas production and sustain the production plant.

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An overview of physico-chemical mechanisms of biogas production by microbial communities: a step towards sustainable waste management.

The accumulation of recalcitrant xenobiotic compounds is due to continuous efflux from population and industrial inputs that have created a serious impact on the pristine nature of our environment. Apart from this, these compounds are mostly carcinogenic, posing health hazards which persist over a long period of time. Metabolic pathways and specific operon systems have been found in diverse but limited groups of microbes that are responsible for the transformation of xenobiotic compounds. Distinct catabolic genes are either present on mobile genetic elements, such as transposons and plasmids, or the chromosome itself that facilitates horizontal gene transfer and enhances the rapid microbial transformation of toxic xenobiotic compounds. Biotransformation of xenobiotic compounds in natural environment has been studied to understand the microbial ecology, physiology and evolution for their potential in bioremediation. Recent advance in the molecular techniques including DNA fingerprinting, microarrays and metagenomics is being used to augment the transformation of xenobiotic compounds. The present day understandings of aerobic, anaerobic and reductive biotransformation by co-metabolic processes and an overview of latest developments in monitoring the catabolic genes of xenobiotic-degrading bacteria are discussed elaborately in this work. Till date, several reviews have come up, highlighting the problem of xenobiotic pollution, yet a comprehensive understanding of the microbial biodegradation of xenobiotics and its application is in nascent stage. Therefore, this is an attempt to understand the microbial role in biotransformation of xenobiotic compounds in context to the modern day biotechnology.

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Microbial transformation of xenobiotics for environmental bioremediation

Food security and safety are the major concern in ever expanding human population on the planet earth. Each and every year insect pests cause a serious damage in agricultural field that cost billions of dollars annually to farmers. The loss in term of productivity and high cost of chemical pesticides enhance the production cost. Irrespective use of chemical pesticides (such as Benzene hexachloride, Endosulfan, Aldicarb, and Fenobucarb) in agricultural field raised several types of environmental issues. Furthermore, continuous use of chemical pesticides creates a selective pressure which helps in emerging of resistance pest. These excess chemical pesticide residues also contaminate the environment including the soil and water. Therefore, the biological control of insect pest in the agricultural field gains more importance due to food safety and environment friendly nature. In this regard, bacterial insecticides offer better alternative to chemical pesticides. It not only helps to establish food security through fighting against insect pests but also ensure the food safety. In this review, we have categorized insect pests and the corresponding bacterial insecticides, and critically analyzed the importance and mode of action of bacterial pesticides. We also have summarized the use of biopesticides in integrated pest management system. We have tried to focus the future research area in this field for the upcoming scientists.

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Pritam Chattopadhyay

Papers

Vanillin biotechnology: the perspectives and future.

Biotechnological potential of natural food grade biocolorants

An overview of physico-chemical mechanisms of biogas production by microbial communities: a step towards sustainable waste management.

Microbial transformation of xenobiotics for environmental bioremediation

Recent trends of modern bacterial insecticides for pest control practice in integrated crop management system.