Modern wastewater treatment plants feature both aerobic and anaerobic biological processes. It is... more Modern wastewater treatment plants feature both aerobic and anaerobic biological processes. It is also possible to combine anaerobic and aerobic biological breakdown in one system by exploiting the ability of plant cells to photosynthesise and release oxygen for the microbial aerobic metabolism of organic matter and to reduce the amount of CO2 released from microbial anaerobic metabolism. Wastewater treatment systems based on constructed wetlands offer enormous opportunities to reduce energy inputs associated with gaseous exchanges. They also offer opportunities for tailoring organic matter degradation according to the nature of organic matter present in wastewater, by exploiting the cooperative and mutualistic metabolism evidenced between plants and bacterial communities in both the plant rhizosphere and endosphere. Advances in algal pond treatment systems that incorporate the utilisation of microalgae have demonstrated increases in municipal wastewater treatment capacity without a...
Objectives Carotenoids are increasingly explored as nutraceuticals but their low bioavailability ... more Objectives Carotenoids are increasingly explored as nutraceuticals but their low bioavailability due to poor aqueous solubility limits their applications. This study discusses the development of a novel and organic solvent-free method to develop carotenoid-containing polymeric nanoparticles via temperature-induced phase transition (TIPT) of pluronic F-68 to obtain formulations with the improved dissolution of carotenoids. Methods The nanoencapsulation of carotenoids in pluronic F-68 was performed in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) to avoid oxidative or temperature/solvent-induced degradation. The nanoencapsulates were prepared in scCO2 at 40 or 60 °C and 10 MPa without the aid of any organic solvent. The formulations thereafter were characterised for particle size via dynamic light scattering (DLS), particle morphology via Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and carotenoid content/release via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Key findings HPLC results showed caroten...
Journal of the Chemical Society, Perkin Transactions 2, 2001
... Enrico Baciocchi,*a Maria Francesca Gerini,b Patricia J. Harvey,c Osvaldo Lanzalungab and Alm... more ... Enrico Baciocchi,*a Maria Francesca Gerini,b Patricia J. Harvey,c Osvaldo Lanzalungab and Alma Prosperib a Dipartimento di Chimica, Università La Sapienza, P.le A. Moro, 5 I-00185 Rome, Italy. ... References 1 M. Tien and TK Kirk, Science, 1983, 221, 661. ...
Despite 72% of the Earth’s surface being covered by oceans the area used for seaweed cultivation ... more Despite 72% of the Earth’s surface being covered by oceans the area used for seaweed cultivation is relatively small compared to that of land crops. Although, global utilisation of marine algae has grown to a multibillion dollar industry, primarily for food and hydrocolloids, it is a relatively small part of the current blue economy with a limited number of products available. There is tremendous potential for further exploitation of seaweed for fuel, feed, biochemicals, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. The brown seaweed Sargassum muticum is an invasive species to the coasts of the British Isles, mainland Europe and North America. Attempts at its eradication and control have generally not been successful, although time-consuming and costly. Commercial exploitation of this biomass for food, fuel and pharmaceutical products could encourage its harvesting and control. Sargassum has a naturally high content of antioxidants, carotenoids and phenols, including the well-known anti-cance...
The brown seaweed Sargassum muticum is an invasive species to the coasts of the British Isles, ma... more The brown seaweed Sargassum muticum is an invasive species to the coasts of the British Isles, mainland Europe and North America. Attempts at its eradication and control have generally not been successful, although time-consuming and costly. Commercial exploration of this biomass for fuel could encourage its harvesting and control. Anaerobic digestion (AD) has been suggested as one of the most promising methods of exploiting algae for biofuel. The harvesting of S. muticum is seasonal; thus, there will be a need to preserve and store seaweed to supply a year-round anaerobic digestion process. Ensiling is widely used in terrestrial agriculture, but there has been little research on ensiling seaweed. The aims of this research were to: a) study the effect of ensiling on the biomethane potential of S. muticum, b) effect of size reduction prior to ensilage on leachate and other losses during ensiling and c) examine the mass balance and energy losses of ensiling S. muticum. Ensiling was found to be an effective, low energy loss method of preserving seaweed with energy loss from the biomass due to ensiling <8 % of the higher heating value of seaweed feedstock. Ensiling results in losses of salt from the biomass and the virtual total loss of organic sulphur. Size reduction of seaweed prior to ensilage reduced leachate and energy loss from the biomass. Ensiling had no significant effect on methane yield. However, methane yields from S. muticum are low ≤0.11 L CH4 g−1 volatile solid (VS) at ~25 % of the theoretical maximum. Further research is needed to establish the reasons for the recalcitrance of S. muticum, but the C:N ratio of S. muticum is low (8:1), and co-digestion with a low nitrogen content substrate such as crude glycerol may be a potential method of improving methane yield.
Modern wastewater treatment plants feature both aerobic and anaerobic biological processes. It is... more Modern wastewater treatment plants feature both aerobic and anaerobic biological processes. It is also possible to combine anaerobic and aerobic biological breakdown in one system by exploiting the ability of plant cells to photosynthesise and release oxygen for the microbial aerobic metabolism of organic matter and to reduce the amount of CO2 released from microbial anaerobic metabolism. Wastewater treatment systems based on constructed wetlands offer enormous opportunities to reduce energy inputs associated with gaseous exchanges. They also offer opportunities for tailoring organic matter degradation according to the nature of organic matter present in wastewater, by exploiting the cooperative and mutualistic metabolism evidenced between plants and bacterial communities in both the plant rhizosphere and endosphere. Advances in algal pond treatment systems that incorporate the utilisation of microalgae have demonstrated increases in municipal wastewater treatment capacity without a...
Objectives Carotenoids are increasingly explored as nutraceuticals but their low bioavailability ... more Objectives Carotenoids are increasingly explored as nutraceuticals but their low bioavailability due to poor aqueous solubility limits their applications. This study discusses the development of a novel and organic solvent-free method to develop carotenoid-containing polymeric nanoparticles via temperature-induced phase transition (TIPT) of pluronic F-68 to obtain formulations with the improved dissolution of carotenoids. Methods The nanoencapsulation of carotenoids in pluronic F-68 was performed in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) to avoid oxidative or temperature/solvent-induced degradation. The nanoencapsulates were prepared in scCO2 at 40 or 60 °C and 10 MPa without the aid of any organic solvent. The formulations thereafter were characterised for particle size via dynamic light scattering (DLS), particle morphology via Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and carotenoid content/release via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Key findings HPLC results showed caroten...
Journal of the Chemical Society, Perkin Transactions 2, 2001
... Enrico Baciocchi,*a Maria Francesca Gerini,b Patricia J. Harvey,c Osvaldo Lanzalungab and Alm... more ... Enrico Baciocchi,*a Maria Francesca Gerini,b Patricia J. Harvey,c Osvaldo Lanzalungab and Alma Prosperib a Dipartimento di Chimica, Università La Sapienza, P.le A. Moro, 5 I-00185 Rome, Italy. ... References 1 M. Tien and TK Kirk, Science, 1983, 221, 661. ...
Despite 72% of the Earth’s surface being covered by oceans the area used for seaweed cultivation ... more Despite 72% of the Earth’s surface being covered by oceans the area used for seaweed cultivation is relatively small compared to that of land crops. Although, global utilisation of marine algae has grown to a multibillion dollar industry, primarily for food and hydrocolloids, it is a relatively small part of the current blue economy with a limited number of products available. There is tremendous potential for further exploitation of seaweed for fuel, feed, biochemicals, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. The brown seaweed Sargassum muticum is an invasive species to the coasts of the British Isles, mainland Europe and North America. Attempts at its eradication and control have generally not been successful, although time-consuming and costly. Commercial exploitation of this biomass for food, fuel and pharmaceutical products could encourage its harvesting and control. Sargassum has a naturally high content of antioxidants, carotenoids and phenols, including the well-known anti-cance...
The brown seaweed Sargassum muticum is an invasive species to the coasts of the British Isles, ma... more The brown seaweed Sargassum muticum is an invasive species to the coasts of the British Isles, mainland Europe and North America. Attempts at its eradication and control have generally not been successful, although time-consuming and costly. Commercial exploration of this biomass for fuel could encourage its harvesting and control. Anaerobic digestion (AD) has been suggested as one of the most promising methods of exploiting algae for biofuel. The harvesting of S. muticum is seasonal; thus, there will be a need to preserve and store seaweed to supply a year-round anaerobic digestion process. Ensiling is widely used in terrestrial agriculture, but there has been little research on ensiling seaweed. The aims of this research were to: a) study the effect of ensiling on the biomethane potential of S. muticum, b) effect of size reduction prior to ensilage on leachate and other losses during ensiling and c) examine the mass balance and energy losses of ensiling S. muticum. Ensiling was found to be an effective, low energy loss method of preserving seaweed with energy loss from the biomass due to ensiling <8 % of the higher heating value of seaweed feedstock. Ensiling results in losses of salt from the biomass and the virtual total loss of organic sulphur. Size reduction of seaweed prior to ensilage reduced leachate and energy loss from the biomass. Ensiling had no significant effect on methane yield. However, methane yields from S. muticum are low ≤0.11 L CH4 g−1 volatile solid (VS) at ~25 % of the theoretical maximum. Further research is needed to establish the reasons for the recalcitrance of S. muticum, but the C:N ratio of S. muticum is low (8:1), and co-digestion with a low nitrogen content substrate such as crude glycerol may be a potential method of improving methane yield.
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