Glycerol agricultural production

The efficiency of the carbon source conversion into pigments and the optimization of the growth medium with respect to its availability and price have been the subject of intensive studies. Niunerous sources, including pentoses and hexoses, various disaccharides, glycerol, ethanol, methanol, oils, -alkanes, or a wide variety of wastes derived from agricultural production (e.g., molasses, bananas, starch wastes. 

Various co-digestion techniques had been done by mixing the substrate for biogas production with compound such as glycerol, agricultural wastes, and food wastes. 

Pachauri, N. and He, B. (2006) Valued-added utilisation of crude glycerol from biodiesel production a survey of current research, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Annual Meeting, Portland, USA. 

Melanoidins are also reported to exhibit antibacterial activity (Einarsson, 1990), however, this activity is not strong. In a Japanese patent, Yajima (1979) used melanoidin mixed with glycerol fatty acid ester such as glycerol monocaprylate to prolong the preservation of meat products such as ham, sausage, and agricultural food products. 

The study of microbial production of 1,3-propanediol has an interesting history (reviewed by Biebl et al. 1999). It is one of the oldest fermentation products known and has been studied for over 100 years. For a number of years, interest in the fermentation was due to its potential as an outlet for surplus glycerol. Glycerol can be made via a chemical process, or it can be derived from various agricultural fats during the production of fatty acids and soaps. Increased availability of low-cost glycerol might be expected in the future, as it is a by-product of such processes as transesterification of fats for biodiesel production as well as the process for ethanol production by yeast. 

Polyesters could as well be produced by a much cheaper way starting from agricultural wastes (e.g. molasses, maltose, glycerol phase from biodiesel production, whey, bagasse) as long as these materials have a known composition and are available in appropriate quantities . New production technology are under development to reduce polyester final cost. 

Thompson, J.C., He, B.B., 2006. Characterization of crude glycerol from biodiesel production from multiple feedstocks. Applied Engineering in Agriculture 22,261-265. 

Mantzouridou, F., Naziri, E., Tsimidou, M.Z., 2008. Industrial glycerol as a supplementary carbon source in the production of 8-carotene by Blakeslea trispora. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 56, 2668—2675. 

---