Bryophytes as a safeguard of fruits from postharvest fungal diseases: A Review

Postharvest losses from fungal pathogens to essential fruits and vegetables are enormous and alarming. Orthodox synthetic fungicides are being used as a regular practice to restrict these losses. However, now by knowing the hazards of these chemical-based fungicides, the situation demands alternative green technology. Consequently, many angiosperms plant extracts have been evaluated for their antifungal nature and achieved substantial success. However, the second most prevalent flora on land, i.e. bryophytes, have been scarcely used and somewhat remain neglected besides their remarkable thallus organization, water relations and antimicrobial potential. For postharvest fungus control, these bryophytes, the first land plants' extracts to be researched and promoted due to concerns about drug resistance, nephrotoxicity and biomagnification related to current synthetic fungicides. Since these amphibious plants have their unique protective mechanism against fungal or bacterial attacks due to their unique phytochemistry, therefore have great potential to be used as eco-friendly fungicides. Considering these factors, this article seeks to direct the attention of interested researchers toward the relatively accessible but vast underutilised bryo-diversity to investigate their remarkable potential as postharvest antifungal agents first in laboratories and then on a commercial scale in the future.

Anaerobic digestion fundamentals, challenges, and technological advances

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a natural biochemical process that converts organic materials into combustible biogas. AD has been long practiced for agricultural and urban waste management; however, this process is getting more attention as an alternative energy source nowadays. Additionally, various biogas-derived value-added chemicals and transportation fuels are turning AD into a profitable biorefinery business model. Despite its numerous potentials, AD technologies still face challenges in conversion efficiency, process stability, product quality, and economic feasibility. Researchers have been devising various mechanisms to tackle these challenges. However, a widespread adoption of commercial-scale AD is yet to be visible. The development of AD technology requires a concerted effort of scientists from different backgrounds to ensure rapid expansion.

Electroreduction of Carbon Dioxide to Formate using Highly Efficient Bimetallic Sn-Pd Aerogels

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to valuable materials is a promising approach to supress atmospheric CO2 levels. In order to bring this strategy to a commercial scale, the design...

Systems for Muscle Cell Differentiation: From Bioengineering to Future Food

In light of pressing issues, such as sustainability and climate change, future protein sources will increasingly turn from livestock to cell-based production and manufacturing activities. In the case of cell-based or cultured meat a relevant aspect would be the differentiation of muscle cells into mature muscle tissue, as well as how the microsystems that have been developed to date can be developed for larger-scale cultures. To delve into this aspect we review previous research that has been carried out on skeletal muscle tissue engineering and how various biological and physicochemical factors, mechanical and electrical stimuli, affect muscle cell differentiation on an experimental scale. Material aspects such as the different biomaterials used and 3D vs. 2D configurations in the context of muscle cell differentiation will also be discussed. Finally, the ability to translate these systems to more scalable bioreactor configurations and eventually bring them to a commercial scale will be touched upon.

Study of Yeast Production of Pectinase Enzyme and the Effect of Different Physiological Conditions on Its Production

Pectinase enzymes are considered industrially important enzymes, and their importance is due to their use in many industries, such as extracting and liquefying fruit and vegetable juices, paper and textile industry, tea and coffee brewing, extracting oils with removing gum from plant fibers and treating factory wastes containing pectic substances. Microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi, including yeasts, produce pectinase enzymes on a commercial scale. Recently, it has been noticed that there has an increase in interest in its production of yeasts due to its characteristics, ease of development, and short time required for incubation.

An estimate of the amount of geological CO2 storage over the period 1996-2020

Existing centralised databases of industrial-scale CCS report various characteristics including capture capacities but do not specify the amount of CO2 stored from commercial CCS facilities. We review a variety of publicly available sources to estimate the amount of CO2 that has been captured and stored by operational CCS facilities since 1996. We organise these sources into three categories broadly corresponding to the associated degree of legal liability or auditing. Data were found for twenty commercial-scale facilities, indicating a combined capture capacity of 36 MtCO2 per year. Combining data from all three categories suggests that approximately 27 MtCO2 of this was stored in the subsurface in 2019. However, considering only categories 2 and 1 of reporting, storage estimates for 2019 reduce to 25 MtCO2 and 11 MtCO2, respectively. Nearly half of the projects investigated here are reporting injection rates close to their originally proposed capture rate capacity. Our data also show that between 1996 and 2020, 196 Mt of CO2 has been cumulatively stored, combining data for all three categories. The database presented here provides further insight into the factors influencing performances of CCS operations and the data can be used to parameterise energy system models for analysing plausible scaleup trajectories of CCS.

Pengaruh Jenis Eksplan dan Asam Amino pada Inisiasi dan Proliferasi Kalus Embriogenik Phalaenopsis Var. ‘Raiza Agrihorti’

<p><strong>(<em>The Effect of Explant Types and Amino Acids on Embryogenic Callus Initiation and Proliferation of Phalaenopsis Var. ‘Raiza Agrihorti’</em>)</strong></p><p>Penyiapan kalus embriogenik (KE) yang optimal memiliki peranan penting dalam menghasilkan benih bermutu Phalaenopsis skala komersial. Kendala utama yang dihadapi ialah inisiasi dan proliferasi KE yang masih rendah, serta akumulasi fenolik yang tinggi. Penelitian dilakukan di Laboratorium Kultur Jaringan Balithi dari Agustus 2019 hingga Juli 2020. Penelitian menggunakan Rancangan Acak Kelompok (RAK) pola split plot dan faktorial dengan lima ulangan. Percobaan-1: jenis eksplan (pucuk, pangkal, dan daun plantlet) sebagai petak utama dan perlakuan asam amino (tanpa asam amino, L-Proline, L-Glutamine, L-Cysteine, dan Casein-Hydrolisate) dengan konsentrasi 150 mg/l pada medium PC1 (1/2 MS + 1,0 mg/l TDZ + 0,5 mg/l BAP + 20 g/l sukrosa) sebagai anak petak. Percobaan-2: faktor-1 ialah jenis asam amino (L-Proline, L-Cysteine; L-Glutamine, dan Casein-Hydrolisate) dan faktor-2 ialah konsentrasi asam amino (0, 75, 150, 225, dan 300 mg/l). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa inisiasi KE Phalaenopsis var. ‘Raiza Agrihorti’ terbaik didapatkan dari pangkal plantlet dan 150 mg/l L-Glutamine dengan waktu inisiasi 18,3-24,0 hari, 80-100% pembentukan KE, dan ukuran KE 0,4-0,5 cm3. Proliferasi KE terbaik ditemukan pada L-Glutamine dengan konsentrasi 150 mg/l. Proliferasi KE mencapai 100% dengan penambahan berat segar sebesar 0,39 g, tingkat multiplikasi (MR) 4,55 kali dan pencokelatan 4,0%. Hasil penelitian ini berpotensi tinggi untuk diterapkan pada kultur starter Phalaenopsis hibrida lain.</p><p><strong>Keywords</strong></p><p>Phalaenopsis hibrid; Asam amino; Inisiasi; Kalus embriogenik; Proliferasi</p><p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p>Setup of the optimum Phalaenopsis embryogenic callus (EC) is an important role in producing qualified-seedlings of Phalaenopsis in commercial scale. The main constraints that are still being faced are the low rate of culture proliferation and high phenolic accumulations. The research was carried out at the Tissue Culture Laboratory-Indonesian Ornamental Plants Research Institite, from August 2019 through July 2020. The split plot and factorial designs were arranged using a Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) with five replications. Experiment-1: explants type (shoot tip, basal part, and leaf of plantlet) was used as main plot and amino acids (amino acids free, L-Proline, L-Glutamine, L-Cysteine, and Casein-Hydrolisate) with 150 mg/l concentration on medium PC1 (1/2 MS + 1,0 mg/l TDZ + 0,5 mg/l BAP + 20 g/l sukrosa) as subplot. Experiment-2: the first factor was amino acids type (L-Proline, L-Cysteine; L-Glutamine, and Casein-Hydrolisate) and the second factor was amino acids concentration (0, 75, 150, 225, and 300 mg/l). Results of the studies revealed that the best EC initiation of Phalaenopsis var. ‘Raiza Agrihorti’ was produced by basal part of plantlet and PC1 medium containing 150 mg/l L-Glutamine with EC Initiation time was 18.3-24.0 days, 80-100% of EC formation and size of 0.4-0.5 cm3. The best proliferation of EC was found in L-Glutamine with 150 mg/l concentration. EC proliferation reached 100% with 4.55 EC multiplication rate, 0.39 g EC fresh weight added, and EC browning as low as 4.0%. The established method is high possibly applied for other Phalaenopsis hybrids.</p>

Recent Developments and Current Status of Commercial Production of Fuel Ethanol

Ethanol produced from various biobased sources (bioethanol) has been gaining high attention lately due to its potential to cut down net emissions of carbon dioxide while reducing burgeoning world dependence on fossil fuels. Global ethanol production has increased more than six-fold from 18 billion liters at the turn of the century to 110 billion liters in 2019, only to fall to 98.6 billion liters in 2020 due to the pandemic. Sugar cane and corn have been used as the major feedstocks for ethanol production. Lignocellulosic biomass has recently been considered as another potential feedstock due to its non-food competing status and its availability in very large quantities. This paper reviews recent developments and current status of commercial production of ethanol across the world with a focus on the technological aspects. The review includes the ethanol production processes used for each type of feedstock, both currently practiced at commercial scale and still under developments, and current production trends in various regions and countries in the world.