Growth of fungi and yeasts in food production waste streams : a feasibility study
Loading...
Access rights
openAccess
publishedVersion
URL
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
This publication is imported from Aalto University research portal.
View publication in the Research portal (opens in new window)
View/Open full text file from the Research portal (opens in new window)
Other link related to publication (opens in new window)
View publication in the Research portal (opens in new window)
View/Open full text file from the Research portal (opens in new window)
Other link related to publication (opens in new window)
Date
2023-11-06
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
11
Series
BMC Microbiology, Volume 23, issue 1
Abstract
Food production produces nutrient-rich waste streams which, depending on local legislation, are either sent to wastewater treatment plants or discharged into the environment. In addition to causing environmental harm in the second instance, valuable nutrients are lost. A more circular approach would be to reuse these waste streams. Fungi and yeasts are ideal candidates as they require lots of organic carbon (which is especially high in food production waste streams) for growth, with the potential for producing value-added biomass. Here, we tested the metabolic activity and possible growth of seven fungi and three yeasts in five different food production waste streams. Initial tests were done to find the most promising waste streams for growth and these were chosen for further study. All species were then cultured in these waste streams and oxygen uptake was measured to gauge metabolic activity which we used as a proxy for growth rate. Pelletization’s effect on metabolic rates was tested on the most pellet-forming species, by adding agar to inhibit pellet formation. The most promising waste stream for yeast/fungal growth was cheese whey (Whey). Pellet inhibition (i.e., filamentous growth) resulted in increased metabolic activity of cells in the confectionary bakery waste stream with agar but decreased metabolic activity in Whey with agar. The best-growing species, Geotrichum candidum, has potential commercial value as a producer of enzymes, biochemicals and lipids and could provide added value while improving the circularity of water and nutrients in food production.Description
Funding Information: We would like to acknowledge the US Agricultural Research Service for providing fungal strains, and Hermanni Kaartokallio for the use of his OxiTop system. We thank Dr Marilyn Wiebe (Technical Research Centre of Finland) for her expert advice on fungi and yeast and Aino Peltola (Aalto University Water Lab) for her technical help. We also thank those who provided the waste streams: Antti Alavuotunki at Helsingin Meijeriliike, Janni. T. Pulkkinen at the Natural Resources Institute of Finland and Viking Malt Oy. Funding Information: This study was funded by the Maa- ja vesitekniikan tuki foundation and The Finnish Foundation for Technology Promotion. Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).
Keywords
Biomass, Circular economy, Fungi, Side streams, Sustainability, Water reuse, Yeasts
Other note
Citation
Bansfield, D, Spilling, K, Mikola, A & Piiparinen, J 2023, ' Growth of fungi and yeasts in food production waste streams : a feasibility study ', BMC Microbiology, vol. 23, no. 1, 328 . https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-023-03083-6