Valorization of oil refinery by-products: production of sophorolipids utilizing fatty acid distillates and their potential antibacterial, anti-biofilm, and antifungal activities.

Starmerella bombicola is a native yeast strain producing sophorolipids as secondary metabolites. This study explores the production, characterization, and biological activities of sophorolipids and investigates the antimicrobial, anti-biofilm, and antifungal properties of sophorolipids produced from oil refinery wastes by the yeast Starmerella bombicola. The present work demonstrated that S. bombicola MTCC 1910 when grown in oil refinery wastes namely palm fatty acid distillates and soy fatty acid distillates enhanced the rate of sophorolipids production drastically in comparison to vegetable oil, sunflower oil used as hydrophobic feedstock. Sophorolipid yields were 18.14, 37.21, and 46.1 g/L with sunflower oil, palm, and soy fatty acid distillates respectively. The crude biosurfactants were characterized using TLC, FTIR, and HPLC revealing to be acetylated sophorolipids containing both the acidic and lactonic isomeric forms. The surface lowering and emulsifying properties of the sophorolipids from refinery wastes were significantly higher than the sunflower oil-derived sophorolipids. Also, all the sophorolipids exhibited strong antibacterial properties (minimum inhibitory concentrations were between 50 and 200 µg mL-1) against Salmonella typhimurium, Bacillus cereus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis and were validated with morphological analysis by Scanning electron microscopy. All the sophorolipids were potent biofilm inhibitors and eradicators (minimum biofilm inhibitory and eradication concentrations were between 12.5 to 1000 µg mL-1) for all the tested organisms. Furthermore, antifungal activities were also found to exhibit about 16-56% inhibition at 1 mg mL-1 for fungal mycelial growth. Therefore, this endeavour of sophorolipids production using palm and soy fatty acid distillates not only opens up a window for the bioconversion of industrial wastes into productive biosurfactants but also concludes that sophorolipids from oil refinery wastes are potent antimicrobial, anti-biofilm, and antifungal agents, highlighting their potential in biotechnological and medical applications.

Molecular interaction analysis of ferulic acid (4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid) as main bioactive compound from palm oil waste against MCF-7 receptors: An in silico study.

Ferulic acid (4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid) is a phytochemical compound that is commonly found in conjugated forms within mono-, di-, polysaccharides and other organic compounds in cell walls of grain, fruits, and vegetables. This compound is highly abundant in the palm oil waste. The aim of the study was to predict the anticancer activity of ferulic acid against the breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7) receptors through a computational analysis. MCF-7 receptors with PDB IDs of 1R5K, 2IOG, 4IV2, 4IW6, 5DUE, 5T92, and 5U2B were selected based on the Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry System (SMILES) similarity of the native ligand. Thereafter, the protein was prepared on Chimera 1.16 and docked with ferulic acid on Autodock Vina 1.2.5. The ligand-protein complex interaction was validated by computing the root mean square fluctuation (RMSF) and radius of gyration (Rg) through molecular dynamic simulation. In addition, an absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) prediction was performed on ferulic acid using the pkCSM platform. The molecular docking revealed that the ferulic acid could interact with all receptors as indicated by the affinity energy <-5 kcal/mol. The compound had the most optimum interaction with receptor 2IOG (affinity energy=-6.96 kcal/mol), involving hydrophobic interaction (n=12) and polar hydrogen interaction (n=4). The molecular dynamic simulation revealed that the complex had an RMSF of 1.713 Å with a fluctuation of Rg value around 1.000 Å. The ADMET properties of ferulic acid suggested that the compound is an ideal drug candidate. In conclusion, this study suggested that ferulic acid, which can be isolated from palm oil waste, has the potential to interact with MCF-7 receptors.

Feeding rats with used cooking oil elevates malondialdehyde, TNF-α, and creatinine compared to tempe fried with used oil.

In vivo studies on the hazards of deep-fried foods were commonly done by feeding used-or heated-cooking oil to rats. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of feeding tempe deep-fried in palm, olive, and coconut oils and the used frying oil on the blood biochemical profile of laboratory rats. An in vivo randomized control group study with pre-test and post-test was conducted. This study included healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats aged 2-3 months and weighing 100-200 grams. After acclimatization, the rats were randomly assigned to seven groups, which were: (1) regular diet (control diet); (2) diet of tempe deep-fried in 5× used palm oil (Tempe-in-used-Po); (3) diet of tempe deep-fried in 5× used coconut oil (Tempe-in-used-Co); (4) diet of tempe deep-fried in 5× used olive oil (Tempe-in-used-Oo); (5) diet of 5× used palm oil (Used-Po); (6) diet of 5× used coconut oil (Used-Co); and (7) diet of 5× used olive oil (Used-Oo). Each rat received 15 grams of a treatment diet daily and blood samples were collected after four weeks for a complete blood count and serum biochemistry analysis. The results showed that the final body weight and the weight gain of Tempe-in-used-Po, Tempe-in-used-Co, Tempe-in-used-Oo group, and Used-Po groups increased significantly compared to the control, Used-Co, and Used-Oo groups. However, there was a significant increase in serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in the Used-Co and Used-Oo groups (p<0.05), suggesting the used oil's detrimental effect. The Used-Co and Used-Oo were the only two groups whose creatinine increased significantly (p<0.05). Subsequently, only the Used-Oo group had a significantly increased malondialdehyde (MDA) level compared to all groups (p<0.05). These results prove that the effect of feeding fried food differs from used oils. Feeding used oil did not reflect the consumption of fried foods as part of the whole diet and generally resulted in more harmful effects. This is the first study to report an in vivo rat feeding study of deep-fried tempe and the used oil as part of the diet.

Detection and quantification of groundnut oil adulteration with machine learning using a comparative approach with NIRS and UV-VIS.

Groundnut oil is known as a good source of essential fatty acids which are significant in the physiological development of the human body. It has a distinctive fragrant making it ideal for cooking which contribute to its demand on the market. However, some groundnut oil producers have been suspected to produce groundnut oil by blending it with cheaper oils especially palm olein at different concentrations or by adding groundnut flavor to palm olein. Over the years, there have been several methods to detect adulteration in oils which are time-consuming and expensive. Near infrared (NIR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopies are cheap and rapid methods for oil adulteration. This present study aimed to apply NIR and UV-Vis in combination with chemometrics to develop models for prediction and quantification of groundnut oil adulteration. Using principal component analysis (PCA) scores, pure and prepared adulterated samples showed overlapping showing similarities between them. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) models developed from NIR and UV-Vis gave an average cross-validation accuracy of 92.61% and 62.14% respectively for pure groundnut oil and adulterated samples with palm olein at 0, 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50% v/v. With partial least squares regression free fatty acid, color parameters, peroxide and iodine values could be predicted with R2CV's up to 0.8799 and RMSECV's lower than 3 ml/100 ml for NIR spectra and R2CV's up to 0.81 and RMSECV's lower than 4 ml/100 ml for UV-Vis spectra. NIR spectra produced better models as compared to UV-Vis spectra.

Thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties of oil palm cellulose nanofibril reinforced green epoxy nanocomposites.

In this study, significant improvements in mechanical properties have been seen through the efficient inclusion of Oil Palm Cellulose Nanofibrils (CNF) as nano-fillers into green polymer matrices produced from biomass with a 28 % carbon content. The goal of the research was to make green epoxy nanocomposites utilizing solution blending process with acetone as the solvent with the different CNF loadings (0.1, 0.25, and 0.5 wt%). An ultrasonic bath was used in conjunction with mechanical stirring to guarantee that CNF was effectively dispersed throughout the green epoxy. The resultant nanocomposites underwent thorough evaluation, comparing them to unfilled green epoxy and evaluating their morphological, mechanical, and thermal behavior using a variety of instruments. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to validate findings, which showed that the CNF were dispersed optimally inside the nanocomposites. The thermal degradation temperature (Td) of the nanocomposites showed a marginal decrement of 0.8 % in temperatures (from 348 °C to 345 °C), between unfilled green epoxy (neat) and 0.1 wt% of CNF loading. The mechanical test results, which showed a 13.3 % improvement in hardness and a 6.45 % rise in tensile strength when compared to unfilled green epoxy, were in line with previously published research. Overall, the outcomes showed that green nanocomposites have significantly improved in performance.

Influence of grain type and fat source on performance, nutrient utilization, and gut properties in broilers fed pelleted diets.

The influence of grain type and fat source on the performance, coefficient of apparent ileal digestibility (CAID), and intestinal characteristics in broiler starters fed pelleted diets were studied. The experiment included 8 treatments arranged as a 2 × 4 factorial with 2 grains (wheat and corn) and 4 fat sources (soybean oil, fish oil, tallow, and palm oil). In all fat sources, corn-fed birds had a higher weight gain than those fed wheat-based diets. However, improvement in the weight gain of birds fed wheat-based diets supplemented with tallow resulted in a significant (P < 0.001) interaction between grain type and fat source. Inclusion of wheat and tallow increased feed intake compared to corn and other fat sources, respectively. Pellets made from wheat were harder (P < 0.01) than those based on corn. Broilers fed corn-based diets, had higher CAID of fat, Ca, and phosphorus (P < 0.01) than those fed wheat-based diets. Soybean oil inclusion, also increased (P < 0.01) fat digestibility compared to other fat sources. An interaction occurred between grain type and fat source where pellets made from corn and soybean oil had higher protein digestibility compared to the other treatments (P < 0.01). Feeding wheat-based diets increased pH of gizzard and proventriculus compared to corn-based diets (P < 0.01). Highest viscosity value was observed in wheat-diets supplemented with fish oil, and palm oil (P < 0.01). The pancrease, gizzard and cecum were heavier in corn-based fed birds compared to those fed wheat-based diets (P < 0.01). A significant interaction between grain type and fat source was noted for Lactobacillus spp. and the total anaerobic bacteria population in the cecum. Overall, the effect of grain type on weight gain, CIAD of protein and cecal microbiota differed depending on the fat sources. Feeding corn and soybean oil resulted in better gut development and growth performance in broilers fed pelleted diets.

Taguchi-assisted multi-response improved simultaneous nanocellulose and sugar production from microcrystalline cellulose derived from raw oil palm leaves.

Enzymatic treatment on lignocellulosic biomass has become a trend in preparing nanocellulose (NC), but the process must be optimized to guarantee high production yield and crystallinity. This study offers insights into an innovative protocol using cultivated fungal cellulase and xylanase to improve NC production from raw oil palm leaves (OPL) using five-factor-four-level Taguchi orthogonal design for optimizing parameters, namely substrate and enzyme loading, surfactant concentration, incubation temperature and time. Statistical results revealed the best condition for producing NC (66.06 % crystallinity, 43.59 % yield) required 10 % (w/v) substrate, 1 % (v/v) enzyme, 1.4 % (w/v) Tween-80, with 72-h incubation at 30 °C. Likewise, the highest sugar yield (47.07 %) was obtained using 2.5 % (w/v) substrate, 2.0 % (v/v) enzyme, 2.0 % (w/v) Tween-80, with 72-h incubation at 60 °C. The auxiliary enzymes used in this study, i.e., xylanase, produced higher crystallinity NC, showing widths between 8 and 12 nm and lengths >1 µm and sugars at 47.07 % yield. Thus, our findings proved that optimizing the single-step enzymatic hydrolysis of raw OPL could satisfactorily produce relatively crystalline NC and sugar yield for further transformation into bio-nanocomposites and biofuels. This study presented a simple, innovative protocol for NC synthesis showing characteristics comparable to the traditionally-prepared NC, which is vital for material's commercialization.

Effects of dietary free fatty acid content and degree of fat saturation on tibia bone properties of laying hens.

Acid oils and fatty acid distillates are fat by-products of the refining process of edible oils and are characterized by their high proportion of free fatty acids (FFA). While lipids are essential in poultry diets, their chemical structure may interfere with calcium absorption. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of dietary FFA content and the degree of fat saturation on bone metabolism in commercial layers. For 15-wk, a total of 144 laying hens (19-wk-old) were randomly assigned to 8 treatments (6 replicates with 3 birds each), which were obtained by gradually replacing crude soybean oil (rich in unsaturated fatty acids [UFA]) with soybean acid oil (rich in UFA and FFA), or crude palm oil (rich in saturated fatty acids [SFA]) with palm fatty acid distillate (rich in SFA and FFA). Following a 2 × 4 factorial design, 4 UFA-rich and 4 SFA-rich diets were created with varying FFA content: 10, 20, 30, and 45%. Tibiae (6 birds/treatment) were collected at the end of the trial for the assessment of mineral composition, morphological properties, and mechanical characteristics. The data were analyzed using a 2-way ANOVA with the GLM procedure. Orthogonal polynomial contrasts were employed to determine the linear effect of increasing %FFA, with statistical significance set at P < 0.05. The degree of saturation was found to negatively impact on calcium and phosphorus bone content, with higher levels found in soybean-based diets (P < 0.001). A significant interaction was observed for medullary bone mineral content, showing a linear decrease as the dietary %FFA increased (P < 0.05) in palm diets. In contrast, morphological and mechanical bone traits, total ash content, and cortical bone mineral composition remained unaffected (P > 0.05). These results suggest that the degree of fat saturation exerts a greater impact than FFA content on bone mineral metabolism, supporting the commercial use of fat by-products rich in FFA in laying hen diets, at least during the early stages of the laying cycle.

Structuration of lipid bases zero-trans and palm oil-free for food applications.

This work evaluated structured lipids (SLs) through chemical and enzymatic interesterification (CSLs and ESLs). Blends of soybean oil and peanut oil 1:1 wt% were used, with gradual addition of fully hydrogenated crambe to obtain a final behenic acid concentration of 6, 12, 18, and 24 %. Chemical catalysis used sodium methoxide (0.4 wt%) at 100 °C for 30 min, while enzymatic catalysis used Lipozyme TL IM (5 wt%) at 60 °C for 6 h. Major fatty acids identified were C16:0, C18:0, and C22:0. It was observed that with gradual increase of hard fat, the CSLs showed high concentrations of reaction intermediates, indicating further a steric hindrance, unlike ESLs. Increased hard fat also altered crystallization profile and triacylglycerols composition and ESLs showed lower solid fat, unlike CSLs. Both methods effectively produced SLs as an alternative to trans and palm fats, view to potential future applications in food products.

A sustainable and economical solution for CO2 capture with biobased carbon materials derived from palm kernel shells.

This study investigates the synthesize of activated carbon for carbon dioxide adsorption using palm kernel shell (PKS), a by-product of oil palm industry. The adsorbent synthesis involved a simple two-step carbonization method. Firstly, PKS was activated with potassium oxide (KOH), followed by functionalization with magnesium oxide (MgO). Surface analysis revealed that KOH activated PKS has resulted in a high specific surface area of 1086 m2/g compared to untreated PKS (435 m2/g). However, impregnation of MgO resulted in the reduction of surface area due to blockage of pores by MgO. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) demonstrated that PKS-based adsorbents exhibited minimal weight loss of less than 30% up to 500 °C, indicating their suitability for high-temperature applications. CO2 adsorption experiments revealed that PKS-AC-MgO has achieved a higher adsorption capacity of 155.35 mg/g compared to PKS-AC (149.63 mg/g) at 25 °C and 5 bars. The adsorption behaviour of PKS-AC-MgO was well fitted by both the Sips and Langmuir isotherms, suggesting a combination of both heterogeneous and homogeneous adsorption and indicating a chemical reaction between MgO and CO2. Thermodynamic analysis indicated a spontaneous and thermodynamically favourable process for CO2 capture by PKS-AC-MgO, with negative change in enthalpy (- 0.21 kJ/mol), positive change in entropy (2.44 kJ/mol), and negative change in Gibbs free energy (- 729.61 J/mol, - 790.79 J/mol, and - 851.98 J/mol) across tested temperature. Economic assessment revealed that the cost of PKS-AC-MgO is 21% lower than the current market price of commercial activated carbon, indicating its potential for industrial application. Environmental assessment shows a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (381.9 tCO2) through the utilization of PKS-AC-MgO, underscoring its environmental benefits. In summary, the use of activated carbon produced from PKS and functionalised with MgO shows great potential for absorbing CO2. This aligns with the ideas of a circular economy and sustainable development.

Investigating the effects of oil type, emulsifier type, and emulsion particle size on textured fibril soy protein emulsion-filled gels and soybean protein isolate emulsion-filled gels.

The effects of oil type, emulsifier type, and emulsion particle size on the texture, gel strength, and rheological properties of SPI emulsion-filled gel (SPI-FG) and TFSP emulsion-filled gel (TFSP-FG) were investigated. Using soybean protein isolate or sodium caseinate as emulsifiers, emulsions with cocoa butter replacer (CBR), palm oil (PO), virgin coconut oil (VCO), and canola oil (CO) as oil phases were prepared. These emulsions were filled into SPI and TFSP gel substrates to prepare emulsion-filled gels. Results that the hardness and gel strength of both gels increased with increasing emulsion content when CBR was used as the emulsion oil phase. However, when the other three liquid oils were used as the oil phase, the hardness and gel strength of TFSP-FG decreased with the increasing of emulsion content, but those of SPI-FG increased when SPI was used as emulsifier. Additionally, the hardness and gel strength of both TFSP-FG and SPI-FG increased with the decreasing of mean particle size of emulsions. Rheological measurements were consistent with textural measurements and found that compared with SC, TFSP-FG, and SPI-FG showed higher G' values when SPI was used as emulsifier. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) observation showed that the distribution and stability of emulsion droplets in TFSP-FG and SPI-FG were influenced by the oil type, emulsifier type and emulsion particle size. SPI-stabilized emulsion behaved as active fillers in SPI-FG reinforcing the gel matrix; however, the gel matrix of TFSP-FG still had many void pores when SPI-stabilized emulsion was involved. In conclusion, compared to SPI-FG, the emulsion filler effect that could reinforce gel networks became weaker in TFSP-FG.

Efficiency enhancement of electrocoagulation, ion-exchange resin and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane filtration by prior organic precipitation for treatment of anaerobically-treated palm oil mill effluent.

Anaerobically-treated palm oil mill effluent (POME) still has unacceptable properties for water recycling and reuse, with an unpleasant appearance due to the brownish color caused by tannins and phenolic compounds. This study proposes an approach for treating anaerobically-treated POME for water recycling by combining organic precipitation, electrocoagulation (EC), and ion-exchange resin, followed by reverse osmosis (RO) membrane filtration in series. The results indicated that the organic precipitation enhanced the efficiency of EC treatment in reducing the concentrations of tannins, color, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the anaerobically-treated POME effluent, with reductions of 95.73%, 96.31%, and 93.96% for tannin, color, and COD, respectively. Moreover, organic precipitation affected the effectiveness of Ca2+ and Mg2+ ion removal using ion exchange resin and RO membrane filtration. Without prior organic precipitation, the ion-exchange resin process required a longer contact time, and the RO membrane filtration treatment was hardly effective in removing total dissolved solids (TDS). The combined process gave a water quality that meets the criteria set by the Thailand Ministry of Industry for industrial boiler use (COD 88 mg/L, TDS <0.001 mg/L, water hardness <5 mg-CaCO3/L, and pH 6.9).

Palm-based nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) in carotenoid encapsulation and its incorporation into margarine-like reduced fat spread as fat replacer.

Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) from plant biomass is becoming popular, attributed to the protective encapsulation of bioactive compounds in Pickering emulsion, preventing degradation and stabilizing the emulsion. NFC, as a natural dietary fiber, is a prominent fat replacer, providing a quality enhancement to reduced-fat products. In this study, NFC Pickering emulsions were prepared at NFC concentrations of 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, and 1% to encapsulate carotenoids. The NFC Pickering emulsions at NFC concentrations of 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, and 1% were incorporated into margarine-like reduced fat (3%) spreads as the aqueous phase. Characterization of both NFC Pickering emulsion and the incorporated NFC Pickering emulsion, margarine-like reduced fat spreads, was conducted with mastersizer, rheometer, spectrophotometer, and texture analyzer. The particle size (73.67 ± 0.35 to 94.73 ± 2.21 nm), viscosity (138.36 ± 3.35 to 10545.00 ± 567.10 mPa s), and creaming stability (25% to 100% stable) of the NFC Pickering emulsions were increased significantly when increasing the NFC concentration, whereas the encapsulation efficiency was highest at NFC 0.4% and 0.6%. Although imitating the viscoelastic solid-like behavior of margarine was difficult, the NFC Pickering emulsion properties were still able to enhance hardness, slip melting point, and color of the reduced fat spreads compared to the full-fat margarine, especially at 0.6% of NFC. Overall, extensive performances of NFC can be seen in encapsulating carotenoids, especially at NFC concentrations of 0.4% and 0.6%, with the enhancement of Pickering emulsion stability while portraying futuristic possibilities as a fat replacer in margarine optimally at 0.6% of NFC concentration. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Nanocellulose extracted from palm dried long fiber was utilized to encapsulate carotenoids and replace fats in margarine-like reduced fat (3%) spreads. Our study portrayed high encapsulation efficiency and successful fat replacement with promising stability performances. Hence, nanocellulose displayed extensive potential as encapsulating agents and fat replacers while providing quality and sustainability enhancements in reduced-fat food.

Investigating process parameters to enhance (hemi)cellulolytic enzymes activity produced by Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30 using deoiled oil palm mesocarp fiber in solid-state fermentation.

This study investigates the synthesis of (hemi)cellulolytic enzymes, including endoglucanase (CMCase), xylanase, and ß-glucosidase, employing Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30 and deoiled oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) through solid-state fermentation (SSF). The objective was to determine the optimal process conditions for achieving high enzyme activities through a one-factor-at-a-time approach. The study primarily focused on the impact of the solid-to-liquid ratio, incubation period, initial pH, and temperature on enzyme activity. The effects of OPMF pretreatment, particularly deoiling and fortification, were explored. This approach significantly improved enzyme activity levels compared to the initial conditions, with CMCase increasing by 111.6 %, xylanase by 665.2 %, and ß-Glucosidase by 1678.1 %. Xylanase and ß-glucosidase activities, peaking at 1346.75 and 9.89 IU per gram dry substrate (GDS), respectively, under optimized conditions (1:4 ratio, pH 7.5, 20 °C, 9-day incubation). With lower moisture levels, CMCase reached its maximum activity of 227.84 IU/GDS. The study highlights how important it is for agro-industrial byproducts to support environmentally sustainable practices in the palm oil industry. It also emphasizes how differently each enzyme reacts to changes in process parameters.

The effect of citral loading and fatty acid distribution on the oleogels: Physicochemical properties and in vitro digestion.

Oleogels containing bioactive substances such as citral (CT) are used as functional food ingredients. However, little information is available on the influence of different oleogel network structure caused by CT addition and fatty acid distribution on its digestion behavior. Coconut oil, palm oil, high oleic peanut oil, safflower seed oil, and perilla seed oil were used in this study. The results showed that perilla seed oil-CT-based oleogels had the highest oil-holding capacity (99.03 ± 0.3), whereas CT addition higher than 10 wt% could lead to the morphology collapse of oleogels. Physical and thermodynamic analyses revealed that CT could reduce oleogel hardness and higher unsaturated fatty acid content is more likely to form oleogel with stable and tight crystalline network. Moreover, the dense structure of oleogels hinders the contact between oleogels and lipase, thus weakening triglyceride digestion. These findings provide valuable insights into the design of oleogels loading with CT.

Human milk fat substitutes rich in 1,3-dioleoyl-2-palmitoylglycerol and 1-oleoyl-2-palmitoyl-3-linoleoylglycerol simultaneously: Preparation strategy and simulated infant in vitro digestion.

In this study, fractionated palm stearin, oleic acid, and linoleic acid were selected as the base materials to prepare human milk fat substitutes (HMFS) rich in OPO and OPL by enzymatic acidolysis combined with physical blending. Under optimum conditions, contents of OPO, OPL, and sn-2 palmitic acid in the OPO and OPL-rich triacylglycerols (TAGs) were higher than that in commercial OPO-rich TAGs, with values of 37.25%, 28.12%, and 79.44%, respectively. Physical blending the OPO and OPL-rich TAGs (47%), bovine milk fat (18%), sunflower oil (13%), coconut oil (13%), corn oil (8%), and palm oil (1%) can obtain HMFS with a fat composition that like HMF. The fatty acid, sn-2 saturated fatty acid, and TAG contents of HMFS were within the lower and upper limit of HMF. The lipolysis degree of infant formula (IF) with HMFS as fat source is 9.0% higher than that of commercial plant oil-based infant formula (PIF), and 3.4% lower than that of human milk. IF with HMFS as fat source released less saturated free fatty acids and more saturated monoacylglycerols during digestion than that of PIF, which would help improve the IF fat utilization by infants.

Aspergillus niger as an efficient biological agent for separator sludge remediation: two-level factorial design for optimal fermentation.

Background: The booming palm oil industry is in line with the growing population worldwide and surge in demand. This leads to a massive generation of palm oil mill effluent (POME). POME is composed of sterilizer condensate (SC), separator sludge (SS), and hydro-cyclone wastewater (HCW). Comparatively, SS exhibits the highest organic content, resulting in various environmental impacts. However, past studies mainly focused on treating the final effluent. Therefore, this pioneering research investigated the optimization of pollutant removal in SS via different aspects of bioremediation, including experimental conditions, treatment efficiencies, mechanisms, and degradation pathways. Methods: A two-level factorial design was employed to optimize the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and turbidity using Aspergillus niger. Bioremediation of SS was performed through submerged fermentation (SmF) under several independent variables, including temperature (20-40 °C), agitation speed (100-200 RPM), fermentation duration (72-240 h), and initial sample concentration (20-100%). The characteristics of the treated SS were then compared to that of raw sludge. Results: Optimal COD and turbidity removal were achieved at 37 °C 100 RPM, 156 h, and 100% sludge. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a significant effect of selective individual and interacting variables (p < 0.05). The highest COD and turbidity removal were 97.43% and 95.11%, respectively, with less than 5% error from the predicted values. Remarkably, the selected optimized conditions also reduced other polluting attributes, namely, biological oxygen demand (BOD), oil and grease (OG), color, and carbon content. In short, this study demonstrated the effectiveness of A. niger in treating SS through the application of a two-level factorial design.

Regulation of fat crystals in water-in-oil emulsions by high-intensity ultrasound: Crystal size and tracing of droplet distribution.

In this paper, two emulsion systems with high and low solid fat contents were prepared from 20 % water phase and 80 % oil phase by adjusting the palm oil/palm stearin/soybean oil ratio. Different ultrasonic power and time were used for the pretreatment of emulsion with different solid fat content, and the application characteristics of ultrasonic in W/O emulsions were explored and evaluated. Directly using high-intensity ultrasound to prepare fatty emulsions would weaken the hardness and storage modulus G' of the samples. Although ultrasound reduced the size of fat crystals in emulsions, the interaction between water droplets and fat crystals needs to be considered. After ultrasonic treatment, water droplets were difficult to immobilize on the crystal surface and thus acted as an active filler to stabilize the emulsion together with the fat crystal network. In high solid fat emulsion systems, an increase in ultrasound power (from 100 W to 200 W) could more affect the crystallization behavior of fats than an increase in ultrasound duration (from 30 s to 60 s), and the distribution of crystals and droplets was more uniform. In the low solid fat emulsion system, the texture of the sample after ultrasonic treatment was softer, and the surface was more delicate and smoother. However, the higher ultrasonic intensity (200 W) was not conducive to the preparation of the spread. Although the ultrasound with excessive intensity promoted the formation of small crystals, it would also lead to the aggregation of small crystals. These small crystals cannot form a uniform crystal network, which increases the fluidity of emulsions.

Synergistic sequential oxidative extraction for nanofibrillated cellulose isolated from oil palm empty fruit bunch.

This research presents a comprehensive study of sequential oxidative extraction (SOE) consisting of alkaline and acidic oxidation processes to extract nanocellulose from plant biomass. This proposed process is advantageous as its operation requires a minimum process with mild solvents, and yet successfully isolated high-quality nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) from raw OPEFB. The SOE involved ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH, 2.6 M) and formic acid (HCOOH, 5.3 M) catalyzed by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, 3.2 M). This approach was used to efficiently solubilize the lignin and hemicellulose from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) at the temperature of 100°C and 1 h extraction time, which managed to retain fibrous NFC. The extracted solid and liquor at each stage were studied extensively through physiochemical analysis. The finding indicated that approximately 75.3%dwb of hemicellulose, 68.9%dwb of lignin, and 42.0%dwb of extractive were solubilized in the first SOE cycle, while the second SOE cycle resulted in 92.3%dwb, 99.6%dwb and 99.8%dwb of solubilized hemicellulose, lignin, and extractive/ash, respectively. High-quality NFC (75.52%dwb) was obtained for the final extracted solid with 76.4% crystallinity, which is near the crystallinity of standard commercial NFC. The proposed process possesses an effective synergy in producing NFC from raw OPEFB with less cellulose degradation, and most of the degraded hemicellulose and lignin are solubilized in the liquor.

Investigating fouling deposition during combustion of hydrothermally treated palm empty fruit Bunch: Pilot-Scale study for industrial hydrothermal reactor.

Inorganic elements in palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) are problematic in boiler operation, causing slagging and fouling deposits. The first pilot-scale hydrothermal treatment (HTT) system was commenced in a palm oil mill to remove undesirable elements. Fuel properties, combustion behavior, and fouling deposition of HTT-EFB were investigated. Liquid temperatures and treatment times in the HTT system significantly altered EFB-fuel properties. At ≥ 60 °C, potassium removals of at least 78 % were achieved, generating EFB-fuel containing potassium below 0.5 %wt. Later, a series of EFB combustion experiments were conducted in a specially designed fixed-bed reactor to simulate the tube surface of industrial boilers. Fouling deposition from HTT-EFB combustion reduced to below half of untreated EFB at all HTT conditions and combustion temperatures studied. The deposit-to-fuel ratio of HTT-EFB combusted at 1,000 °C was 37.3 % lower than untreated EFB combusted at a typical EFB boiler at 800 °C. Results demonstrated great potential for HTT-EFB in industrial applications.