Biomass ingredients

In partnership with Unitika, NEC has developed the reinforced PLA case for the DoMoCo N701i ECO mobile phone case. NEC claims that the material used achieves a biomass ingredient ratio of 90% which is the highest level of any bioplastic used in electronic devices. To achieve this figure the partners have added a biomass-based flexibiliser and reinforcement filler to secure the simultaneous benefits of heat resistance, high fall impact durability and ability to be moulded. 

Food, feed, and nutritional ingredients, where it focuses on biomass, enzymes, and nutritional ingredients. 

Of the various new sources of nutrients, especially proteins, microbial biomass shows great potential. This applies particularly to yeasts which have a long tradition of successful use as foods, as producers of foods and beverages, and as food ingredients (1,2,3,4,5). The interest in and the supply of yeast and microbial biomass will increase rapidly with the growing activities in biomass conversion (alcohol production, etc.). Microbial biomass can become a significant source of food protein... 

Primary recovery of the active ingredient from the solid or liquid phase to remove large quantities of unwanted waste materials, which may themselves be processed further. Suitable techniques include solvent extraction, precipitation by chemical or physical changes to the product-containing solution, and ultrafiltration or microfiltration to separate products above a particular size. Work done on combined biomass separation-primary product recovery processes such as expanded-bed adsorption are now being commercialized in the pharmaceutical industry. 

The leaves and twigs were analyzed for Andrographolide and there was no change in the % of the active ingredient per unit mass as a result of inoculation. However, the biomass which is medicinal value was found to be 26% more in the inoculated plants, the inoculation with Ecorrhiza can give higher field. 

Advantages of Genencor s biocatalytic conversion of biomass to value-added chemicals include, a) commercial viability, simplicity and economic feasibility b) prevention of product inhibition of cellulosic enzymes by concurrent conversion to bioproducts c) feasibility of quantitative conversion, d) elimination of byproducts e) higher productivity and yield on carbon J) production capacity enhancement. This biocatal) ic conversion concept is novel because a multienzyme process for converting renewable biomass to value-added commercial ingredients has not yet been commercially demonstrated. 

As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, microalgal biomass contains not only oil but also a wide range of valuable ingredients, including carotenoids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, polymers, peptides, vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, and so on. Some of them exhibit significant market potential whilst some have already achieved commercial success. Table 4.4 shows the health benefits of some of the main bioactive compounds. From a biorefinery point of view, the residual biomass after oil extraction may be used as food additives, nutraceuticals and animal feed. 

As shown in this section, biomass-related compounds can be a good functional source that may be used as ingredients in various industries. 

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