Joseph Bak-Coleman, Jevin West, Cailin O'Connor
et al.
To what extent is social media research independent from industry influence? Leveraging openly available data, we show that half of the research published in top journals has disclosable ties to industry in the form of prior funding, collaboration, or employment. However, the majority of these ties go undisclosed in the published research. These trends do not arise from broad scientific engagement with industry, but rather from a select group of scientists who maintain long-lasting relationships with industry. Undisclosed ties to industry are common not just among authors, but among reviewers and academic editors during manuscript evaluation. Further, industry-tied research garners more attention within the academy, among policymakers, on social media, and in the news. Finally, we find evidence that industry ties are associated with a topical focus away from impacts of platform-scale features. Together, these findings suggest industry influence in social media research is extensive, impactful, and often opaque. Going forward there is a need to strengthen disclosure norms and implement policies to ensure the visibility of independent research, and the integrity of industry supported research.
Kombucha is a fermented functional beverage that started as a homemade beverage and grew into a commercial product in the U.S. by the turn of this century. The number of companies producing kombucha, as well as the variety of kombucha products, is increasing rapidly. The scientific research on kombucha also got active along with the growth in the market. The topics of kombucha research can be grouped into the substrate used in fermentation, the microbial composition of the cultures, processing methods, chemical composition, the health benefits and health risks associated with consumption, the utilization of symbiotic cultures of bacteria and yeasts (SCOBYs), etc. There are several already published in-depth scientific reviews covering these topics. Even with the sensory characteristics of kombucha being a critical aspect of the beverage, there are not many publications covering the sensory and consumer research on this beverage. This review paper aims to provide the current market status of kombucha and to show a need for scientific sensory and consumer research studies to help the kombucha researchers and industry working on this fast-growing beverage.
Yanyan Liu, Hira Nawazish, Muhammad Salman Farid
et al.
Lactobacillus acidophilus is a probiotic bacterium that possesses numerous health-promoting properties and has significant technological applications in the fermentation of a wide range of food products and beverages. This review discusses the health benefits of L. acidophilus, including its ability to enhance immunity; promote digestive wellness; and exhibit antioxidant, antitumor, and antimicrobial properties. This review also discusses the production of bioactive peptides and extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) by L. acidophilus. Factors, such as salinity, temperature, carbon sources, and nutrient availability, influence the growth of L. acidophilus, which can affect the survival and bioactive potential of fermented products. The proteolytic effects of L. acidophilus contribute to protein breakdown, which leads to the release of bioactive peptides with various health benefits. This review also discusses the applications of L. acidophilus in the fermentation of dairy products, cereal beverages, soymilk, fruit and vegetable juices, and other functional food preparations, highlighting its potential for improving the nutritional value, organoleptic properties, and probiotic delivery of these products. This review highlights the importance of understanding and controlling fermentation conditions to maximize the growth and health-promoting benefits of L. acidophilus in various food and beverage products.
The use of saturated medium-chain fatty acids for arresting fermentation and producing sweet wines was investigated at an industrial level. Doses of 10 mg/L of octanoic or decanoic acid and a combination of 5 + 5 mg/L octanoic and decanoic acid were used to produce sweet wines of the Tămâioasă românească variety in volumes of 3000 L. As using these acids also leads to the production of some corresponding ethyl-esters, with potential impact on the aromatic profile, it is important to have the wines evaluated by consumers. The resulting wines were evaluated through a systematic approach by both novice consumers and professional tasters. Consumers appreciated the wines treated with 10 mg/L decanoic acid and the control wines equally, while professionals assigned significantly higher scores to the wines treated with 10 mg/L of either octanoic or decanoic acid, compared to the controls. The samples treated with the combined dose of 5 + 5 mg/L octanoic and decanoic acid were not preferred by either consumers or professional tasters. Thus, the variant with decanoic acid appears to be the one most preferred by both consumers and professionals. Sensory profiles of the experimental wines are also presented and discussed.
Iconic products, as innovative carriers supporting the development of future industries, are key breakthrough points for driving the transformation of new quality productive forces. This article is grounded in the philosophy of technology and examines the evolution of human civilization to accurately identify the patterns of product innovation. By integrating theories from systems science, it analyzes the intrinsic logical differences between traditional products and iconic products. The study finds that iconic products are based on a comprehensive knowledge system that integrates explicit and tacit knowledge, enabling them to adapt to complex dynamic environments. Therefore, based on the method of phenomenological essence reduction and the process of specialized knowledge acquisition, this study establishes the first principle of knowledge phenomenology: "knowledge generation-moving from the tacit to the explicit-moving from the explicit to the tacit-fusion of the explicit and tacit." Grounded in knowledge phenomenology, it reconstructs the product design evolution process and establishes a forward innovative design framework for iconic products, consisting of "design problem space-explicit knowledge space-tacit knowledge space-innovative solution space." Furthermore, based on FBS design theory, it develops a disruptive technology innovation forecasting framework of "technology problem space-knowledge base prediction-application scenario prediction-coupled technology prediction," which collectively advances the innovation systems engineering of iconic products. In light of the analysis of the global future industrial competitive landscape, it proposes a strategy for enhancing embodied intelligence in iconic products.
Wrinkling is commonly observed as mechanical instability when a stiff thin film bound on a compliant thick substrate undergoes in-plane compression exceeding a threshold. Despite significant efforts to create a broad range of surface patterns via wrinkling, little has been studied about a dynamic and transient wrinkling process, where a suspended polymer thin film undergoes liquid-to-solid phase transitions. Here, a spontaneous wrinkling process is reported, when drying poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) soap films suspended on 3D printed wireframes with near zero or negative Gaussian curvatures. As water evaporates, a thickness gradient across the sample is developed, leading to non-uniform drying rates, and a concentration gradient between the inner and outer sides (exposed to air) of the suspended PVA soap film induces a differential osmotic pressure. Together, these effects contribute to an in-plane compressive stress, leading to the formation of surface wrinkles, whose growth is guided by the geometry of the frame. Importantly, the wrinkles evolve dynamically: the wavelength and number of the wrinkles can be tuned by altering the concentration of the PVA aqueous solutions, the initial mass, the relative humidity of the drying environment; the patterns of the resulting wrinkles can be programmed by the geometry of the wireframe.
The surfaces of grapes are covered by different yeast species that are important in the first stages of the fermentation process. In recent years, non-Saccharomyces yeasts such as Torulaspora delbrueckii, Lachancea thermotolerans, Metschnikowia pulcherrima, and Pichia kluyveri have become popular with regard to winemaking and improved wine quality. For that reason, several manufacturers started to offer commercially available strains of these non-Saccharomyces species. P. kluyveri stands out, mainly due to its contribution to wine aroma, glycerol, ethanol yield, and killer factor. The metabolism of the yeast allows it to increase volatile molecules such as esters and varietal thiols (aroma-active compounds), which increase the quality of specific varietal wines or neutral ones. It is considered a low- or non-fermentative yeast, so subsequent inoculation of a more fermentative yeast such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae is indispensable to achieve a proper fermented alcohol. The impact of P. kluyveri is not limited to the grape wine industry; it has also been successfully employed in beer, cider, durian, and tequila fermentation, among others, acting as a promising tool in those fermentation processes. Although no Pichia species other than P. kluyveri is available in the regular market, several recent scientific studies show interesting improvements in some wine quality parameters such as aroma, polysaccharides, acid management, and color stability. This could motivate yeast manufacturers to develop products based on those species in the near future.
Yogurt is a milk-based product manufactured by lactic acid fermentation enabled by symbiotic yogurt cultures. Yogurt is largely considered to be a health product, and it is employed to deliver probiotics and prebiotics to the consumer. However, not all yogurts are probiotic, neither are they all functional products. There is increasing demand for health-promoting beverages, which is prompting the dairy industry to develop functional probiotic yogurts to meet the demand. However, there seems to be a scarcity of reviews providing critical information on regulatory frameworks in regions of the world, clinical trial outcomes, and methodological approaches for enumerating multiprobiotic strains in yogurt. This review, relating to functional probiotic yogurt, covers the newest information on the topic for the period mostly between 2014 and 2019. Conformance to regulations is paramount and hence, global regulatory frameworks for probiotic yogurt and prebiotic and nonprebiotic ingredients included in yogurt are reviewed. The paper emphasizes the need for convincing clinical trial outcomes that provide the dairy industry with an opportunity to market products with substantiated beneficial claims. The paper also discusses probiotic strains in functional yogurt, which is required to have population levels above the recommended therapeutic minimum during shelf life. The multiprobiotic species added to yogurt may present challenges relating to methodological and analytical approaches needed to determine viability of each strain contained in such yogurt. Hence, the review also presents the pros and cons of the culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches for the enumeration of probiotic cells in yogurt. The review is arguably valuable to the dairy industry, functional food developers, related scientists, and researchers, as well as policy makers.
The production of so-called advanced bioethanol offers several advantages compared to traditional bioethanol production processes in terms of sustainability criteria. This includes, for instance, the use of nonfood crops or residual biomass as raw material and a higher potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The present review focuses on the recent progress related to the production of advanced bioethanol, (i) highlighting current results from using novel biomass sources such as the organic fraction of municipal solid waste and certain industrial residues (e.g., residues from the paper, food, and beverage industries); (ii) describing new developments in pretreatment technologies for the fractionation and conversion of lignocellulosic biomass, such as the bioextrusion process or the use of novel ionic liquids; (iii) listing the use of new enzyme catalysts and microbial strains during saccharification and fermentation processes. Furthermore, the most promising biorefinery approaches that will contribute to the cost-competitiveness of advanced bioethanol production processes are also discussed, focusing on innovative technologies and applications that can contribute to achieve a more sustainable and effective utilization of all biomass fractions. Special attention is given to integrated strategies such as lignocellulose-based biorefineries for the simultaneous production of bioethanol and other high added value bioproducts.
The aim of this study was to enhance the nitrogen supply through three different mash treatments and to investigate their effects on fermentation dynamics, yeast biomass accumulation, and the concentration of aroma-active volatiles in nitrogen-poor apple and pear mashes. In terms of nitrogen supplementation, the addition of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and amino acids (AS) accelerated fermentation and reduced the fermentation duration by 4–6 days in three out of four investigated fruit varieties. One pear variety showed sluggish fermentation, which was slightly improved by reducing the particle size (<3 mm) and significantly improved by nitrogen addition. Notably, AS supplementation resulted in a significant reduction in residual sugar concentrations and led to the highest yeast biomass accumulation across all four fruit mashes. Nitrogen supplementation significantly altered the composition of aroma-active volatiles, notably by increasing higher alcohols such as propyl alcohol, 2-methylpropanol, isoamyl alcohol, and 2-methylbutanol. The addition of AS was more effective in increasing higher alcohols, such as isoamyl alcohol and phenethyl alcohol, while decreasing the off-flavor acetaldehyde.
Jake A. K. Elliott, Christian Krohn, Andrew S. Ball
Anaerobic digestion is a potential treatment for industrial wastewater that provides valuable end-products, including renewable energy (biogas). However, waste streams may be too variable, too dilute at high volumes, or missing key components for stable digestion; all factors that increase costs and operational difficulty, making optimisation crucial. Anaerobic digestion may benefit from process intensification, particularly the novel combination of high-strength source-separated wastewater to minimise volume, together with the use of biosolids biochar as a chemical and microbial stabiliser. This study investigates the stability, yield, and microbial community dynamics of the anaerobic digestion of source-separated industrial wastewater from a food manufacturer and a logistics company, using biosolids biochar as an additive, focusing on gas and volatile fatty acid (VFA) production, process stability, and the microbial community using bench-scale semi-continuous reactors at 30- and 45-day hydraulic retention time (HRT). While gas yields were lower than expected, stability was possible at high HRT. Methane production reached 0.24 and 0.43 L day<sup>−1</sup> per litre reactor working volume at 30- and 45-day HRT, respectively, despite high VFA concentration, and was linked to the relative abundance of <i>Methanosarcina</i> in the microbial community. Interactions between substrate, VFA concentration, and the microbial community were observed. Biochar-assisted anaerobic digestion holds promise for the treatment of source-separated wastewater.
Anderson Steyner Rozendo, Luciana Porto de Souza Vandenberghe, Patricia Beatriz Gruening de Mattos
et al.
The present work aimed to use cocoa pod husk (CPH) and its extracted pectin as a potential substrate for the production of pectinase and to test the enzyme produced in the clarification process of apple juice. CPH with a particle size of <0.84 mm was employed for pectinase production by a selected strain of <i>Aspergillus niger</i> NRRL 2270. The optimization of the physicochemical conditions of the production medium led to an enzymatic activity of 602.03 U/g dry CPH, which was obtained under the following conditions: 110.25 g/L of CPH, 5% w/v pectin extract, 0.05 g/L of yeast extract, incubation at 28 °C, and pH 4, representing a 176% increase in enzymatic activity under the evaluated conditions. The production kinetics of pectinase showed maximum enzymatic activity at 96 h. Subsequently, the enzymatic extract was precipitated, microfiltered, and ultrafiltrated, resulting in 4852.50 U/mg of specific activity. The enzymatic activity after recovery and purification processes corresponded to 819 U/g dry CPH. Finally, a clarification stage of apple juice was carried out, in which the produced pectinase (CauPec) showed turbidity of 448.89 NTU compared to 417.89 NTU for the commercial enzyme and a viscosity of 1.86 cP, CauPec, and 1.19 cP, commercial pectinase, as well as soluble solids of 8.0 for commercial pectinase and 8.73 for CauPec. Therefore, it can be concluded that CPH and its pectin extract were excellent substrates for the production of pectinases, whose formulation is highly stable and can be applied in the clarification of apple juice.
Fumagillin is a complex biomolecule. Nowadays, the separation and purification techniques of fumagillin still need to be optimized. In this study, the yield of fumagillin was examined in relation to temperature, pH, inoculation volume, rotation speed, and liquid volume. By using single-factor optimization, a factorial design, and response surface methodology, the fumagillin yield increased from 10~15% to 30~35%. After scaling up the fermentation process, the fumagillin yield remained stable at 30–35%. In addition, fumagillin was prepared via high-performance preparative liquid chromatography; the yield of the preparation was 77.29%, and the purity was greater than 99%. To sum up, these findings demonstrated that the issue of low fumagillin yield can be resolved by optimizing the fermentation process and introducing the high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the rapid preparation of fumagillin with high recoveries. The findings of this study may serve as a foundation for the large-scale production of fumagillin.
Sara Mitri, Nicolas Louka, Tristan Rossignol
et al.
2-phenylethanol (2-PE) is a valuable aromatic alcohol with diverse applications in cosmetics, food, beverages, and pharmaceutical industries. Currently, 2-PE is produced either through chemical synthesis or by extraction from plant materials. However, both conventional production methods have their own limitations. Therefore, there is a need for more eco-friendly and cost-effective approaches to produce natural 2-PE. Biotechnological routes, particularly microbial fermentations, hold promise for natural 2-PE production, especially when using low-cost substrates. In this study, 2-PE was produced by de novo synthesis via the shikimate pathway, using the yeast <i>Yarrowia lipolytica</i> in a medium composed of sugar beet molasses (SBM) and yeast extract (YE) as carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. A genetically engineered strain was generated, in which the <i>SUC2</i> gene was transformed, expressing the invertase enzyme, enabling <i>Y. lipolytica</i> to efficiently utilize SBM as a cost-effective substrate. A central composite design allowed for the optimization of the concentrations of the carbon and nitrogen sources, resulting in approximately 0.71 g<sub>(2-PE)</sub>/L<sub>(culture medium)</sub>. The results obtained highlight the potential of utilizing SBM as a low-cost substrate for 2-PE production, advancing biotechnological approaches in fragrance synthesis.
Vratislav Psota, Marián Svorad, Markéta Garčárová
et al.
After the harvest 2023, three varieties were registered in the Slovak Republic after three years of testing: the spring barley variety LG Rhapsody, the two-row winter barley variety Claudia, and the six-row winter barley variety MH Irén. The malting quality was determined for the varieties LG Rhapsody and Claudia. LG Rhapsody gave extract in malt dry matter of 83.2%. Proteolytic modification of this variety was high (Kolbach index 52.3%). The diastatic power (343 WK), the quality of the sweet wort (apparent final attenuation 82.1%), and the cytolytic modification (friability 94% and β-glucan content 60 mg/l) were at an optimal level. In all cases, the variety gave a clear sweet wort. The winter two-row barley variety Claudia gave a sweet wort with an extract of 81.5%. Kolbach index (46.2%) and diastatic power (508 WK) were at optimal levels. The quality of the sweet wort (apparent final attenuation 80.5%) and the cytolytic modification (friability 83% and β-glucan content of the wort 169 mg/l) were at an average level.
Ana Patricia Garza-Chapa, Carlos Iván Ávila-Velasco, José González-Valdez
et al.
Extractive fermentation is an in situ method for the production and recovery of biomolecules of interest. Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) allow the product to be recovered in one phase of the system, reducing unit operations in the bioprocess. Thermosensitive polymers such as EOPOs are an interesting alternative to be applied in ATPS. In this work, different EOPOs were tested in an extractive fermentation strategy with the green microalgae <i>Neochloris oleoabundans</i> to provide a basis for future implementations of these systems in microalgae bioprocesses. Extractive fermentations were carried out with two EOPOs of different molecular weights (3900 and 12,000 g/mol) at concentrations of 10% and 15% (<i>w</i>/<i>v</i>). The microalga was incubated axenically under two different sets of conditions for 21 and 45 days, respectively. Cell counts were performed, and cell growth curves were obtained. Additionally, a semi-continuous and batch extractive fermentation assay was performed. The extractive fermentation with EOPO showed lower cell growth and a longer adaptation time of the microalgae in the fermentation, and EPS production yields of up to 8–23 g/L were obtained. Extractive fermentation is an interesting method to be implemented in microalgae cultures; however, further conditions need to be explored to achieve an appropriate bioprocess.