Abstract
Distiller’s grains, an important commodity in the feed and food chains, are currently underdosed in rations due to several factors, mainly nutrient imbalance. This study aimed to increase the linoleic acid content in distiller’s grains and decrease the excess nutrients in stillage water by the use of an artificial lichen, composed of fungi, algae, and a supporting matrix. A maximum concentration of 46.25% of linoleic acid in distiller’s grains was achieved with a combination of Mucor indicus and Chlorella vulgaris using corn-to-ethanol whole stillage as substrate. Microbial hydrolytic enzymes during fermentation were able to decrease the solids in whole stillage. Nitrogen depletion by microalgal uptake causes lipid-formation stress to Mucor indicus cells, increasing linoleic acid production to about 49% of the total lipids, potentially decreasing costs in the animal feed. The culture supernatant can potentially be recycled as process water to the ethanol fermentation tank, and enhanced distiller’s grains can replace animal-specific diets. This would reduce exogenous enzyme use and supplementation of unsaturated fatty acids from other sources.
Highlights
Microbial communities exist as a complex and dynamically changing consortium, in which metabolic interactions between microbial species take place
The artificial lichen or mycoalgal biofilm is a novel platform technology that can be applied to many systems, mostly those which are regulated by phosphorus and nitrogen in aqueous systems [2]
Chlorella vulgaris and Mucor indicus were inoculated in Erlenmeyer flasks containing whole stillage (WS) and the presence of an attachment matrix
Summary
Microbial communities exist as a complex and dynamically changing consortium, in which metabolic interactions between microbial species take place. The synergy between microbial communities often involves exchange of molecules for nutritional purposes, and may benefit one or both species, in a phenomenon named symbiosis. Lichens are ubiquitous in nature and are a synergistic collaboration between photoautotrophic algae, which convert CO2 to sugar, and release oxygen gas during photosynthesis to fungi which in turn consume sugar and oxygen release CO2 to algae [1]. The mycoalgae (a combination of myco-from the Greek word mukēs: fungi + algae) platform developed in this study can be applied to biosystems in which fungi and algae are used industrially. The artificial lichen or mycoalgal biofilm is a novel platform technology that can be applied to many systems, mostly those which are regulated by phosphorus and nitrogen in aqueous systems [2]
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