Abstract
Solid state fermentation (SSF) is a sustainable process that uses low amounts of water and transforms plant-based agro-industrial residues into valuable products such as enzymes, biofuels, nanoparticles and other bioactive compounds. Many fungal species can be used in SSF because of their low requirements of water, O2 and light. During SSF, plant-based wastes rich in soluble and insoluble fiber are utilized by lignocellulolytic fungi that have enzymes such as lignases, celullases or hemicelullases that break fiber hard structure. During the hydrolysis of lignin, some phenolic compounds are released but fungi also synthetize bioactive compounds such as mycophenolic acid, dicerandrol C, phenylacetates, anthraquinones, benzofurans and alkenyl phenols that have health beneficial effects such as antitumoral, antimicrobial, antioxidant and antiviral activities. Another important group of compounds synthetized by fungi during SSF are polysaccharides that also have important health promoting properties. Polysaccharides have antioxidant, antiproliferative and immunomodulatory activities as well as prebiotic effects. Fungal SSF has also proved to be a process which can release high contents of phenolics and it also increases the bioactivity of these compounds.
Highlights
The innovation implied in the idea of turning food waste into valuable chemicals, which are used daily in human activities, is commercially attractive and involves further research in areas such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, food science and food technology [1]
Among the valuable compounds that can be obtained from organic waste, polyphenols are the most abundant, as they are found in vegetables, cereals, beverages and fruits
Ligninases are a large group of intricate enzymes that collaborate to break down the phenolic compounds from lignin
Summary
The innovation implied in the idea of turning food waste into valuable chemicals, which are used daily in human activities, is commercially attractive and involves further research in areas such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, food science and food technology [1]. Among the valuable compounds that can be obtained from organic waste, polyphenols are the most abundant, as they are found in vegetables, cereals, beverages and fruits. These substances are the ones that give color and other important organoleptic features to food, in addition to many different beneficial effects on health to prevent or treat chronic diseases [4]. Among the several technologies used to obtain valuable compounds from organic waste, solid state fermentation (SSF) is perhaps the most promising one because of its economic and sustainable characteristics: product yielding, high efficiency and productivity, low consumption of energy and water and minimum concerns about solving disposal problems [1]. Remnants of SSF (which have a different level of biodegradability) can be used for composting, anaerobic digestion or to produce biogas [1]
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