Integrated Processing Technologies for Food and Agricultural By-Products

Zhongli Pan, Ruihong Zhang, Steven Zicari

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780128141380
• eBook ISBN: 9780128141397
• Topic: Tecnología e ingeniería
• Subtopic: Economía del desarrollo

Feeding our globally expanding population is one of the most critical challenges of our time and improving food and agricultural production efficiencies is a key factor in solving this problem. Currently, one-third of food produced for humans is wasted, and for every pound of food produced, roughly an equal amount of nonfood by-product is also generated, creating a significant environmental impact.In Integrated Processing Technologies for Food and Agricultural By-Products experts from around the world present latest developments, recognizing that while some by-products have found use as animal feed or are combusted for energy, new technologies which integrate conversion of production and processing by-products into higher-value food or nonfood products, nutraceuticals, chemicals, and energy resources will be a critical part of the transition to a more sustainable food system. Organized by agricultural crop, and focusing on those crops with maximum economic impact, each chapter describes technologies for value-added processing of by-products which can be integrated into current food production systems. Integrated Processing Technologies for Food and Agricultural By-Products is a valuable resource for industry professionals, academics, and policy-makers alike.- Provides production-through-processing coverage of key agricultural crops for a thorough understanding and translational inspiration- Describes and discusses major by-product sources, including physical and chemical biomass characterizations and associated variability in detail- Highlights conversions accomplished through physical, biological, chemical, or thermal methods and demonstrates examples of those technologies

Section 1

Cereals and Soybeans

Chapter 1

Wheat

Youjie Xu*; Xiuzhi S. Sun^†; Donghai Wang* * Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, United States
^† Department of Grain Science and Industry/Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, United States

Abstract

Utilizing wheat by-products for value-added products is a critical step toward sustainable bio-based economics. Wheat straw is the main by-product obtained after wheat harvesting and utilization of these abundant but inexpensive materials as renewable resources for the industrial application such as straw particleboard fabrication, arabinoxylans extraction, and lignocellulosic biofuel production will pave a new road by turning agricultural wastes into valuable products and certainly bring additional avenues to the rural economy. Milling industry by-products wheat bran and germ contain important health-enhancing bioactive components such as phenolics, carotenoids, β-glucan, vitamins, and dietary fibers. Feedstock utilization could be optimized via the development of biorefinery concepts, in which high-value phytochemicals should be initially extracted followed by the thermochemical or biochemical conversion to produce biofuels or biochemicals. In addition, integration of cellulosic ethanol production and existing starch-based ethanol production via co-fermentation of wheat straw and wheat grain could boost ethanol concentration and yield, and consequently accelerate the commercialization of ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Overall, upgrading the traditional industry into viable biorefineries for the production of biofuels, biochemicals, and biopolymers is essential to a sustainable and healthy bio-based society in order to substitute petrochemicals.

Keywords

Wheat by-products; Particleboard; Xylans; Phytochemicals; Biofuels; Biopolymers; Biochemicals; Bioadhesives

Chapter Outline

• 1 Introduction
• 2 Bio-Based Products From Wheat Straw
  • 2.1 Particleboard
  • 2.2 Xylans
  • 2.3 Bioenergy
• 3 Phytochemicals From Wheat Bran and Germ
  • 3.1 Phenolics
  • 3.2 Carotenoids
  • 3.3 β-Glucan
  • 3.4 Vitamin E
  • 3.5 Dietary Fiber
• 4 Biochemicals From Wheat Starch and Protein
  • 4.1 Biofilms
  • 4.2 Bioadhesives
  • 4.3 Biofuels
• 5 Summary
• References

1 Introduction

Wheat (Triticum spp.) has a long history of crop domestication, which revolutionized human cultural evolution and led to the emergence of human civilization (Carver, 2009). Modern wheat cultivars mainly consist of two polyploid species such as hexaploid bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) and tetraploid hard or durum wheat (Triticum turgidum) used for macaroni and low-rising bread. Another kind of cultivated diploid species einkorn wheat (Triticum momococcum) is a relic and only exists in some mountainous Mediterranean regions (Shewry, 2009). Approximately 95% of the wheat currently grown worldwide is hexaploid bread wheat and the remaining 5% are mainly tetraploid durum wheat (Shewry, 2009). Wheat is considered as the world's largest and most important cereal crop for human staple food, with an annual production of > 700 million tonnes produced globally over the past few years (http://www.fao.org).

The most common characteristics used to classify wheat cultivars is mostly based on kernel color and kernel harness, often described as red or white, and hard or soft. Planting and growing cycles are often used to identify wheat, such as winter wheat and spring wheat (Carver, 2009). Wheat kernel consists of 2%–3% germ, 13%–17% bran, and 80%–85% endosperm (Šramková et al., 2009). Wheat germ is rich in protein (25%) and lipid (8%–13%) and also an important source of Vitamin E. Wheat bran provides a protection layer to the kernel and occupies over 8% of the total weight of the kernel. The endosperm makes up the major part (80%–85% by weight) of the kernel and consists of a protein and starch matrix. Wheat protein content usually ranges from 10% to 18% of the total dry matter.

In addition to human food and livestock feed, wheat and wheat by-product from wheat processing as well as wheat straws also gained interest as renewable resources for biofuels and bio-based products. Wheat is currently the dominant feedstock for the production of bioethanol in the Europe (Brancoli et al., 2018), whereas wheat straw as one of the most abundant agricultural wastes has great potential for the production of liquid or gaseous biofuels (Lopez-Hidalgo et al., 2017). Besides, wheat straw also shows great industrial application for straw particleboard fabrication, arabinoxylans extraction, and bioenergy production. In addition, milling industry by-products, wheat bran and germ, are important sources of health-enhancing bioactive components, meanwhile wheat starch and protein are substantial biopolymers for producing platform chemicals.

In this chapter, we review the industrial and nonfood applications of wheat including bio-based products from wheat straw such as particleboard production, xylans extraction, and bioenergy manufacturing; phytochemicals from wheat bran and germ such as phenolics, carotenoids, β-glucan, vitamins, and dietary fibers; and biochemicals from wheat protein and starch such as biofilms and bioadhesives, as demonstrated in the proposed wheat biorefinery concept for multiple products generation (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 A wheat biorefinery concept.

2 Bio-Based Products From Wheat Straw

Agricultural crop residues such as cereal straw are produced in billions of tonnes annually around the world, representing an abundant, inexpensive, and sustainable resource of lignocellulosic biomass (Sain and Panthapulakkal, 2006). Wheat straw is the main by-product of wheat production and a small portion is used as animal husbandry or household fuel with a major quantity being burnt in the field causing environmental pollution. The utilization of these inexpensive materials as renewable resources for the industrial application, such as straw particleboard fabrication (Cheng et al., 2004; Halvarsson et al., 2008), cellulose nanofiber extraction (Alemdar and Sain, 2008; Reddy and Yang, 2005; Reddy and Yang, 2007), arabinoxylans extraction (Ruzene et al., 2008), and lignocellulosic biofuel production (Ballesteros et al., 2006; Carpenter et al., 2010), will pave a new road by turning agricultural wastes into value-added products and certainly brin...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Preface
• Section 1: Cereals and Soybeans
• Section 2: Fruits
• Section 3: Vegetables and Root Crops
• Section 4: Olives, Tree Nuts, and Coffee
• Index