Commodity bioproducts

Bioprocessing of Renewable Resources to Commodity Bioproducts, First Edition. Edited by Virendra S. Bisaria and Akihiko Kondo. 

Profitability is always a major concern when selecting a pretreatment method. As mentioned previously, pretreatment is the second most expensive procedure in the processing of lignocelluloses into various commodity bioproducts. A careful economic analysis is essential in order to choose the best pretreatment method for a particular biomass and a specific product. The economic analysis is usually made after experimental data has been gathered from the laboratory or from a pilot study. 

The role of cellulase and xylanase enzymes is crucial in realizing the aim of producing ethanol (and other biofuels) and commodity bioproducts from cellulosic feedstocks. The cost of producing cellulase has been brought down significantly over the last... 

A wide variety of products can be produced by fermentation. In some cases the microorganism itself is the product, for example, in the manufacturing of active dry yeast (ADY). Well-known pharmaceutical fermentation products are insulin and penicillin G. Fermentation processes are also used to produce various commodity bioproducts like organic and amino acids, polysaccharides, lipids, chemical compounds like isoprene (Whited et al., 2010), 1,3-propanediol (Nakamura and Whited, 2003), RNA, DNA, enzymes, and other proteins. The large variety of commodity bioproducts produced by fermentation requires an equally large variety of different methods to separate and purify them. Compared to fermentation processes, where usually one unit, the fermenter vessel, is used, several different steps and unit operations are necessary to achieve purification and formulation of bioproducts. 

An example of a commodity bioproduct everybody has probably encountered is ADY. In this case, the cells are the product. The downstream processing for ADY can consist of several washing steps and concentration by centrifugation. The washing steps remove the fermentation media from the yeast cells. The yeast cream obtained by centrifugation is further concentrated using a filter-press to produce a yeast cake. Extrusion and drying of the yeast cake yields the final ADY product. 

About the Cover The pyramid represents successive and increasingly selective processing stages in bioconversion of plant biomass to industrial chemicals. The chemicals in white bubbles are the industrial commodity bioproducts pertaining to the realm of white biotechnology . 

Bioprocessing of renewable resources to commodity bioproducts / edited by Virendra S. Bisaria,... 

The Part II of the book contains state-of-the-art articles on a few chosen commodity bioproducts. These bioproducts represent most of those identified by the US Department of Energy for intensive investigation for their production from renewable resources. While covering these bioproducts, major emphasis has been given to the... 

As research and development in this area has not yet achieved its full potential, the field of bioprocessing of renewable resources into commodity bioproducts will continue to expand to attain its commercial goal. Additionally, new bioproducts and fine chemicals will be added to the existing list of commodity bioproducts, as our capacity to produce sugars from cellulosic residues efficiently and economically... 

The book also provides a unique perspective to the industry about the scientific problems and their possible solutions in making a bioprocess work for commercial production of these commodity bioproducts. The book is suitable for researchers, practitioners, students, and consultants in metabolic engineering, bioprocess engineering, and biotechnology. 

Microbial Production of 3-Hydroxypropionic Acid from Renewable Sources A Green Approach as an Alternative to Conventional Chemistry, in Bioprocessing of Renewable Resources to Commodity Bioproducts (eds V. S. Bisaria and A. Kondo), John Wiley Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, USA. 

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