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Jerusalem artichoke as low‐cost fructose‐rich feedstock for fossil fuels desulphurization by a fructophilic bacterium
Author(s) -
Silva T.P.,
Paixão S.M.,
Roseiro J.C.,
Alves L.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1111/jam.12721
Subject(s) - bioenergy , jerusalem artichoke , unit (ring theory) , library science , archaeology , geography , biofuel , botany , engineering , waste management , biology , computer science , mathematics , mathematics education
Abstract Aims Through biodesulphurization ( BDS ) is possible to remove the sulphur present in fossil fuels to carry out the very strict legislation. However, this biological process is limited by the cost of the culture medium, and thus, it is important to explore cheaper alternative carbon sources, such as Jerusalem artichoke ( JA ). These carbon sources usually contain sulphates which interfere with the BDS process. The goal of this work was to remove the sulphates from Jerusalem artichoke juice ( JAJ ) through BaCl 2 precipitation viewing the optimization of dibenzothiophene ( DBT ) desulphurization by G ordonia alkanivorans strain 1B. Methods and Results Using a statistical design (Doehlert distribution), the effect of BaCl 2 concentration (0·125–0·625%) and pH (5–9) was studied on sulphate concentration in hydrolysed JAJ . A validated surface response derived from data indicated that zero sulphates can be achieved with 0·5–0·55% (w/v) BaCl 2 at pH 7; however, parallel BDS assays showed that the highest desulphurization was obtained with the juice treated with 0·5% (w/v) BaCl 2 at pH 8·73. Further assays demonstrated that enhanced DBT desulphurization was achieved using hydrolysed JAJ treated in these optimal conditions. A total conversion of 400 μ mol l −1 DBT into 2‐hydroxybiphenyl (2‐ HBP ) in <90 h was observed, attaining a 2‐ HBP maximum production rate of 28·2 μ mol l −1 h −1 and a specific production rate of 5·06 μ mol −1 g −1 ( DCW ) h −1 . Conclusions These results highlight the efficacy of the treatment applied to JAJ in making this agromaterial a promising low‐cost renewable feedstock for improved BDS by the fructophilic strain 1B. Significance and Impact of the Study This study is a fundamental step viewing BDS application at the industrial level as it accounts a cost‐effective production of the biocatalysts, one of the main drawbacks for BDS scale‐up.