Developing rumen mimicry process for biological ammonia synthesis.

The ruminant rumen houses hyper-ammonia-producing bacteria (HAB) that produce ammonia with minimal energy use. Here we developed a mimicry process to produce bio-ammonia, a solution of ammonia and ammonium. The rumen microbes were used to ferment soybean (SYB), soybean protein isolate (SPI), and pepsin-hydrolysate (HP) for bio-ammonia production. The maximum bio-ammonia produced from SYB, SPI, and HP were 0.65, 1.2, and 1.1 g/L, respectively. The presence of non-protein in SYB hindered bio-ammonia production and the processing of SYB to SPI and HP significantly (p < 0.05) increased bio-ammonia production. HP was converted to bio-ammonia quicker than SPI suggesting that enzymatic hydrolysis increases bioprocessing efficiency. Metagenomic analysis of a sample culture revealed that the HAB population is predominantly Klebsiella quasivariicola (73%), Escherichia coli (6%), and Enterobacter cloacae (6%). The bioprocessing steps developed would enable industrial ammonia production to achieve a low CO2 footprint.

Biological Ammonia Production via Anaerobic Fermentation of Soy Meal Protein.

BACKGROUND: Conventional ammonia production methods, notably the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process, are costly and contribute substantially to about 2% of the world's CO2 emissions. This study focuses on the biological approach to convert protein to ammonia via hyper-ammonia-producing bacteria (HAB) fermentation. METHODS: A consortium of ruminal microbes was employed in this work to ferment soybean meal protein under varying processing conditions. The parameters investigated included pH (7-11), inoculum concentrations (1-10%), substrate concentrations (5-20%), and fermentation time (0-168 h). RESULTS: Optimal conditions for microbial growth and biological ammonia production were observed at pH 7, fermentation duration of 72 h, inoculum concentration of 10%, and substrate concentration of 10%. ~8000 mg/L biological ammonia was produced following HAB fermentation. CONCLUSIONS: By leveraging the capabilities of rumen HAB, this study contributes to the ongoing efforts to develop environmentally friendly processes for ammonia production that will mitigate both economic and environmental concerns associated with traditional methods.

Meal nutritional characteristics and oil profile of sprouted, dehulled, and solvent-extracted canola.

BACKGROUND: Canola meal has limited utilization in feed and food applications because of the presence of antinutritional factors and a high fiber content. Thus, the present study used 3-day canola seed sprouting followed by hull removal to improve the nutritional quality of canola as a feed and food ingredient to further enhance and diversify the canola market. RESULTS: Seed sprouting and the hull removal process resulted in 63.2% sprouts, 29.3% mix fractions (MF) (hulls, ungerminated seed, and delayed sprouts) and 8.1% mass loss during sprouting. Fresh sprouts and MF were dried, ground and defatted to compare the obtained meals and oils with their counterparts of raw seed. Defatted sprouts (DFSP) resulted in a 46.2% reduction in crude fiber, a 34.3% reduction in acid detergent fiber and a 43.4% reduction in neutral detergent fiber compared to defatted raw seed (DFSE). DFSP provided a 10.1% higher protein content and a 5.9% increase in total amino acid content with higher essential amino acids compared to DFSE. Total carbohydrate was lowered by 5.5%, phytic acid content was lowered by 25.9%, and ash content was lowered by 5.5% in DFSP, whereas total glucosinolate content was higher in DFSP (13.1 µmol g-1 ) than in DFSE (8.8 µmol g-1 ). Sprouts and MF showed an oil content of 38.4% and 9.6%, respectively, compared to raw seed (34.5%). CONCLUSION: Sprouting and hull removal of canola seed can potentially provide nutritive meal for food and feed applications. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Unlocking the potential of minimally processed corn germ oil and high oleic soybean oil to prepare oleogels for bakery application.

In this study, the influence of sunflower wax (SFX) concentration (1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 wt%) on the properties of oleogels prepared using expeller-pressed corn germ oil (EPC) or high oleic soybean oil (EPS) was comprehensively investigated. Overall, oleogels can be prepared from both EP oils at an SFX level ≥3 wt%. The strength of oleogels depends on SFX concentration. EPS oleogels had better rheological properties and a higher amount of platelet-like crystals than EPC oleogels. The characteristics of cookies prepared with both oleogels were evaluated and compared to cookies prepared with commercial shortening. The lipid distribution in the cookies as visualized by CLSM suggested that EPS oleogels with a 5 or 7 wt% SFX had a greater possibility of replacing commercial shortening as they exhibited even lipid distribution which enabled good air-incorporation and air retention abilities. This research provides a foundation for developing healthy bakery products by using minimally processed oil based oleogels.

Physical properties and cookie-making performance of oleogels prepared with crude and refined soybean oil: a comparative study.

The objective of this research was to fabricate crude soybean oil oleogels (CSO) using ß-sitosterol (BS) and/or monoacylglycerol (MAG) and compare their role with that of refined soybean oil oleogels (RSO) in cookie making. Both crude and refined soybean oil oleogels were formed with BS or MAG, or the combination of both (1 : 1) at a fixed concentration of 10 wt%. The thermal behavior of the oleogels was measured using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The crystal structure and morphology of the oleogels were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and polarized light microscopy (PLM). The hardness of the oleogel and commercial vegetable shortening was compared using a texture analyzer. The characteristics of cookies made with the oleogels were compared with those of cookies made with commercial vegetable shortening. Overall, the incorporation of BS and/or MAG into crude and refined soybean oil can produce oleogels with solid-like properties. Refined soybean oil formed stronger and firmer oleogels as compared to crude soybean oil. RSO structured by BS presented branched fiber-like, elongated plate-like, and needle-like crystals while the same oil gelled by MAG contained spherulite crystals. RSO made with the combination of BS and MAG displayed crystal morphologies from both BS and MAG. The same crystal morphologies were observed in CSO with lower quantities. Comparing the quality of cookies made with the oleogels and commercial vegetable shortening, equal or better performance of both RSO and CSO in terms of weight, thickness, width, spread ratio, and hardness of cookies than that of commercial vegetable shortening was observed. By combining the results of the physical characterization and cookie making performance, it can be concluded that both crude and refined soybean oleogels could resemble commercial shortening, which offers the possibility of using oleogels to replace shortening in the baking industry.

Formation, characterization, and potential food application of rice bran wax oleogels: Expeller-pressed corn germ oil versus refined corn oil.

The expeller-pressed (EP) corn germ oil oleogels were prepared using rice bran wax (RBX) at different concentrations (3, 5, 7, and 9 wt%). Their structural properties, including color, hardness, thermal behavior, rheological property, and crystal structure were evaluated. The performance of oleogels for potential food application was examined by incorporating oleogels into cookies as a fully replacement for commercial shortenings. Overall, RBX could form oleogels in both refined and EP corn germ oils at a concentration ≥3 wt%. Refined corn oil produced a stronger gel than crude corn oil. When comparing cookie characteristics, cookies made with both types of oleogels showed similar properties with commercial cookies. This result indicates that oleogels made by refined and EP corn germ oil together with RBX have the potential to imitate the functionality of commercial shortening in the baking industry.