Non-food Resources Research Articles

Detoxification of Sap from Felled Oil Palm Trunks for the Efficient Production of Lactic Acid.

The availability of fermentable sugars in high concentrations in the sap of felled oil palm trunks and the thermophilic nature of the recently isolated Bacillus coagulans strain 191 were exploited for lactic acid production under non-sterile conditions. Screening indicated that strain 191 was active toward most sugars including sucrose, which is a major component of sap. Strain 191 catalyzed a moderate conversion of sap sugars to lactic acid (53%) with a productivity of 1.56g/L/h. Pretreatment of oil palm sap (OPS) using alkaline precipitation improved the sugar fermentability, providing a lactic acid yield of 92% and productivity of 2.64g/L/h. To better characterize potential inhibitors in the sap, phenolic, organic, and mineral compounds were analyzed using non-treated sap and saps treated with activated charcoal and alkaline precipitation. Phthalic acid, 3,4-dimethoxybenzoic acid, aconitic acid, syringic acid, and ferulic acid were reduced in the sap after treatment. High concentrations of Mg, P, K, and Ca were also precipitated by the alkaline treatment. These results suggest that elimination of excess phenolic and mineral compounds in OPS can improve the fermentation yield. OPS, a non-food resource that is readily available in bulk quantities from plantation sites, is a promising source for lactic acid production.

Resource planning for sustainable production of tailor-made green diesel

Producing energy from biomass and other organic waste residues is essential for sustainable development. Like biodiesel, green diesel is a next generation biofuels emerging due to the need for a renewable replacement of petrodiesel. Green diesel is a mixture of carbon chains which are derived from lignocellulosic biomass and the fuel properties are naturally similar to the petrodiesel. This paper discussed an integrated green diesel production route from non-food biomass resources. A systematic literature for lignocellulosic biomass resources has been developed. The systematic literature focuses on hydrodeoxygenation or catalytic hydrothermal liquefaction.

Mere experience of low subjective socioeconomic status stimulates appetite and food intake

Among social animals, subordinate status or low social rank is associated with increased caloric intake and weight gain. This may reflect an adaptive behavioral pattern that promotes acquisition of caloric resources to compensate for low social resources that may otherwise serve as a buffer against environmental demands. Similarly, diet-related health risks like obesity and diabetes are disproportionately more prevalent among people of low socioeconomic resources. Whereas this relationship may be associated with reduced financial and material resources to support healthier lifestyles, it remains unclear whether the subjective experience of low socioeconomic status may alone be sufficient to stimulate consumption of greater calories. Here we show that the mere feeling of lower socioeconomic status relative to others stimulates appetite and food intake. Across four studies, we found that participants who were experimentally induced to feel low (vs. high or neutral) socioeconomic status subsequently exhibited greater automatic preferences for high-calorie foods (e.g., pizza, hamburgers), as well as intake of greater calories from snack and meal contexts. Moreover, these results were observed even in the absence of differences in access to financial resources. Our results demonstrate that among humans, the experience of low social class may contribute to preferences and behaviors that risk excess energy intake. These findings suggest that psychological and physiological systems regulating appetite may also be sensitive to subjective feelings of deprivation for critical nonfood resources (e.g., social standing). Importantly, efforts to mitigate the socioeconomic gradient in obesity may also need to address the psychological experience of low social status.

Investigation, oleaginousness of the major nonfood biodiesel plant resources in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces

Investigation, oleaginousness of the major nonfood biodiesel plant resources in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces

Review of the direct thermochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass for liquid fuels

Increased demand for liquid transportation fuels, environmental concerns and depletion of petroleum resources requires the development of efficient conversion technologies for production of second-generation biofuels from non-food resources. Thermochemical approaches hold great potential for conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into liquid fuels. Direct thermochemical pro- cesses convert biomass into liquid fuels in one step using heat and catalysts and have many advantages over indirect and biological processes, such as greater feedstock flexibility, integrated conversion of whole biomass, and lower operation costs. Several direct thermochemical processes are employed in the production of liquid biofuels depending on the nature of the feedstock proper- ties: such as fast pyrolysis/liquefaction of lignocellulosic biomass for bio-oil, including upgrading methods, such as catalytic cracking and hydrogenation. Owing to the substantial amount of liquid fuels consumed by vehicular transport, converting biomass into drop-in liquid fuels may reduce the dependence of the fuel market on petroleum- based fuel products. In this review, we also summarize recent progress in technologies for large-scale equipment for direct thermochemical conversion. We focus on the technical aspects critical to commercialization of the technologies for production of liquid fuels from biomass, including feedstock type, cracking catalysts, catalytic cracking mechanisms, catalytic reactors, and biofuel properties. We also discuss future prospects for direct thermochemical conversion in biorefineries for the pro- duction of high grade biofuels.

The Relative Effectiveness of Signaling Systems: Relying on External Items Reduces Signaling Accuracy while Leks Increase Accuracy

Multiple evolutionary phenomena require individual animals to assess conspecifics based on behaviors, morphology, or both. Both behavior and morphology can provide information about individuals and are often used as signals to convey information about quality, motivation, or energetic output. In certain cases, conspecific receivers of this information must rank these signaling individuals based on specific traits. The efficacy of information transfer associated within a signal is likely related to the type of trait used to signal, though few studies have investigated the relative effectiveness of contrasting signaling systems. I present a set of models that represent a large portion of signaling systems and compare them in terms of the ability of receivers to rank signalers accurately. Receivers more accurately assess signalers if the signalers use traits that do not require non-food resources; similarly, receivers more accurately ranked signalers if all the signalers could be observed simultaneously, similar to leks. Surprisingly, I also found that receivers are only slightly better at ranking signaler effort if the effort results in a cumulative structure. This series of findings suggests that receivers may attend to specific traits because the traits provide more information relative to others; and similarly, these results may explain the preponderance of morphological and behavioral display signals.

Farmer Empowerment to Increase Productivity of Sago (Metroxylon sago spp) Farming

Domestic and world demand for sago starch continues to increase, both for the food and non-food resource. To response the opportunity, farmer empowerment need to be encouraged to increase current low productivity (less than 15 tonnes /ha/year). Through famer empowerment, traditional sago farming will changed to be managed farming, which enable farmers to implement and apply recommended technology called Best Management Practices and fulfil other related support to uplift their sago farming productivity.

Sustainable biofuel production from non-food sources ? An overview

Increasing human population demands more fuel supply causing the release of hazardous greenhouse gases that could be compensated by supplementing with renewable and environment-friendly alternatives such as biofuels. The argument against the use of food crops for biofuel production that it may cause food shortages can be countered by using feedstock outside the human food chain. This opens up the possibility of using halophytes, algae and photosynthetic bacteria as sources of the carbon neutral biofuel which can be produced sustainably without compromising conventional agriculture. In this review we assess the suitability of these non-food resources as bio-fuel alternates.

반추가축전용 기후변화대응 비식량자원 거대억새의 생육부위 및 시기에 따른 체내 이용가치 비교 연구*

반추가축전용 기후변화대응 비식량자원 거대억새의 생육부위 및 시기에 따른 체내 이용가치 비교 연구*

Towards a Microbial Production of Fatty Acids as Precursors of Biokerosene from Glucose and Xylose

The aviation industry considers the development of sustainable biofuels as one of the biggest challenges of the next ten years. The aim is to lower the environmental impact of the steadily increasing use of fossil fuels on climate change, yielding greater energy independence and fuel security. Thus, the development of a new route for the production of lipids from renewable non-food resources is now being promoted with the recent ASTM certification of hydrotreated oils. Our study focuses on the potential of growth of the oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula glutinis using glucose and xylose which can come from renewable lignocellulosic substrates and of lipid accumulation using glucose as substrate. Experiments were carried out in fed-batch mode which allowed feed flux management. Carbon fluxes were controlled with modifying xylose/glucose ratios to quantify metabolism in optimal growth condition. Besides, the management of carbon and nitrogen fluxes allowed characterizing lipid accumulation. Thus, it has been shown that the yeast Rhodotorula glutinis can simultaneously consume glucose and xylose. When the ratio xylose/glucose increased, the growth rate and the carbon conversion yield into biomass decreased: it was of 0.36 h-1 and 0.64 Cmol x* .Cmol glu -1 for pure glucose, it was of 0.15 h-1 and 0.56 Cmol .Cmol -1 for 10% xylose and it was of 0.037 h-1 and 0.18 Cmol .Cmol -1 for pure xylose. The necessity to maintain residual growth and to manage carbon fluxes to optimize lipid accumulation performance was revealed. Lipid accumulation on glucose engendered a final biomass concentration of 150 gCDW .L-1 , microbial production (72% of lipids) and maximal productivity over 1.48 glip .L-1 .h-1 . The culture temperature is an important parameter to modulate the lipid profile. The results were encouraging. Lipid accumulation using lignocellulosic feedstock was shown to be a highly promising route.

Effect of salt addition on hydrothermal carbonization of lignocellulosic biomass

As a renewable non-food resource, lignocellulosic biomass has great potential as an energy source. When pretreated by hydrothermal carbonization, the resulting biochar (or hydrochar) is hydrophobic and of higher energy density. Addition of ionic salts to this high pressure aqueous pretreatment reduces reaction pressure. Ca propionate, Ca acetate, Mg acetate, Ca lactate, Li chloride, Ca chloride, and Ca formate were tested in hydrothermal carbonizations at 260°C for 5min. Ca chloride and Ca lactate were found to be Ca salts whose addition increases HHV and which decrease the pretreatment pressure. Biomass pretreated with chemical addition of selected salts may have desirable properties when co-fired in existing coal boilers.

Acetic acid and lithium chloride effects on hydrothermal carbonization of lignocellulosic biomass

As a renewable non-food resource, lignocellulosic biomass has great potential as an energy source or feedstock for further conversion. However, challenges exist with supply logistics of this geographically scattered and perishable resource. Hydrothermal carbonization treats any kind of biomass in 200 to 260 °C compressed water under an inert atmosphere to produce a hydrophobic solid of reduced mass and increased fuel value. A maximum in higher heating value (HHV) was found when 0.4 g of acetic acid was added per g of biomass. If 1 g of LiCl and 0.4 g of acetic acid were added per g of biomass to the initial reaction solution, a 30% increase in HHV was found compared to the pretreatment with no additives, along with greater mass reduction. LiCl addition also reduces reaction pressure. Addition of acetic acid and/or LiCl to hydrothermal carbonization each contribute to increased HHV and reduced mass yield of the solid product.

Functions of Bat Social Calls: The Influence of Local Abundance, Interspecific Interactions and Season on the Production of Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) Type D Social Calls

We studied the social call rate of the common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) in natural habitats in relation to the presence or absence of conspecifics and of other bat species by acoustical and behavioural monitoring and analyses. The relative frequency of type D social calls increased, when more than one individual of P. pipistrellus was present, compared to one individual. The data confirm the assumption that one function of social calls is repelling conspecifics (food patch defence hypothesis). In the presence of other species of the genus Pipistrellus or of other genera, the mean social call rate did not significantly increase, except when P. pygmaeus was present. Hence, social call production as a food patch defence typically is not significantly influenced by interspecific interactions. This directs to niche separation concerning the foraging mode of different species. The closely related species P. pipistrellus and P. pygmaeus may compete for resources and communicate by type D social calls. Pipistrelles are known to use a series of type D social calls during songflights. For instance, males use this calling behaviour to attract females and repel competing males. During the mating season P. pipistrellus produced social calls more frequently when other pipistrelle species were absent. This shows that interspecific recognition may influence the mating behaviour of P. pipistrellus. Competing for non-food resources like mating roosts may cause bats to keep calm in the presence of other species.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of habitat use by koalas: the checkerboard model

Animal movement patterns and use of space depend upon food and nonfood resources, as well as conspecific and heterospecific interactions, but models of habitat use often neglect to examine multiple factors and rarely include marsupials. We studied habitat use in an Australian population of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) over a 6-year period in order to determine how koalas navigate their environment and partition limited patchy food and nonfood resources. Tree selection among koalas appears to be mediated by folar chemistry, but nonfood tree selection exerts a major impact on home range use due to thermoregulatory constraints. Koalas moved on a daily basis, during both day and night, but daytime resting site was not necessarily in the same location as nighttime feeding site. Koalas had substantial home range overlap in the near absence of resource sharing with less than 1% of trees located in areas of overlap used by multiple koalas. We suggest that koala spatiotemporal distribution and habitat use are probably based upon a community structure of individuals, with a checkerboard model best describing overlap in home range area but not in resource use. Nonfood refugia and social networks should be incorporated into models of animal range and habitat use.

Measuring intra‐household health inequality: explorations using the body mass index

This paper examines the relationship between level of well-being and inequality at inter-country and intra-household levels, using individuals' body mass index (BMI) rather than income as the indicator of well-being. BMI is useful for these purposes because (1) it is measured at the individual rather than household level; (2) it reflects command over food, but also non-food resources that affect health status like sanitary conditions and labour-saving technologies; (3) it accounts for caloric consumption relative to needs; (4) it is easily measured; and (5) any measurement error is likely to be random. We do not find any evidence to support the idea of an intra-household or inter-country Kuznets curve. We study the correlations between average household well-being, still measured by BMI, and differences in the BMIs of males and females, parents and children. Here, we find a tendency to protect the BMI of young children when living standards are very low. We find no clear patterns by gender. Perhaps the most striking finding in the paper is that about half of total BMI inequality at the country level is within households. Thus, standard measures of inequality that use household-level data may drastically understate true inequality.

Females go where the food is: does the socio-ecological model explain variation in social organisation of solitary foragers?

The socio-ecological model (SEM) links ecological factors with characteristics of social systems and allows predictions about the relationships between resource distribution, type of competition and social organisation. It has been mainly applied to group-living species but ought to explain variation in social organisation of solitary species as well. The aim of this study was to test basic predictions of the SEM in two solitary primates, which differ in two characteristics of female association patterns: (1) spatial ranging and (2) sleeping associations. Beginning in August 2002, we regularly (re-)captured and marked individuals of sympatric populations of Madame Berthe's and grey mouse lemurs (Microcebus berthae, Microcebus murinus) in Kirindy Forest (Madagascar). We recorded data on spatial patterns, feeding and social behaviour by means of direct observation of radio-collared females. The major food sources of M. berthae occurred in small dispersed patches leading to strong within-group scramble competition and over-dispersed females with a low potential for female associations. In contrast, M. murinus additionally used patchily distributed, high-quality (large) resources facilitating within-group contest competition. The combined influence of less strong within-group scramble and contest as well as between-group contest over non-food resources allowed females of this species to cluster in space. Additionally, we experimentally manipulated the spatial distribution of food sources and found that females adjusted their spatial patterns to food resource distribution. Thus, our results support basic predictions of the SEM and demonstrated that it can also explain variation in social organisation of solitary foragers.

A Critical Test of the Central Plains Tradition Swidden Model Using Data from the Glenwood Locality

The data that has been presented in support of a swidden model for the Central Plains tradition (CPt) are equivocal. If the current models of CPt subsistence and settlement are to be changed, either unequivocal evidence or pressures potentially driving that change must be identified. A GIS-based catchment analysis of the Glenwood locality indicates that even the most restrictive assumptions do not produce a scenario in which arable land is limited enough to create significant agricultural pressure. A comparison of the GIS data with excavated faunal assemblages from the same locality also indicates that use of wild food resources was approximately proportional to the available resource zones. The best explanations that have been offered for CPt settlement decisions focus on non-food woodland resources, and these still seem to be the most reasonable explanations.

Ethanol Production Potential from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches in Southeast Asian Countries Considering Xylose Utilization

Much attention has been paid to fuel ethanol recently, but the use of food resources for fuel ethanol is problematic and the use of non-food resources is anticipated. We are developing ethanol production technology from lignocellulosic biomass subject to milling pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis, and also developed new yeast strains which can ferment xylose into ethanol efficiently. We estimated ethanol production potential from oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand with our experimental data. Even estimation based on moderate resource availability and without xylose utilization showed 1-2 % of gasoline consumption can be substituted by ethanol produced from EFB in Indonesia and Malaysia. If xylose can be also used as a substrate for ethanol fermentation, its contribution to production increase was significant. The use of other wastes generated in oil palm industry can increase ethanol production furthermore. The ethanol production potential from wasted oil palm trunk in Malaysia is comparable to that from EFB by our estimation which also based on the experimental data. Palm-oil-producing Southeast Asian countries have large ethanol production potential without utilizing food resources.

Parthenium sp. as a plant biomass for the production of alkalitolerant xylanase from mutant Penicillium oxalicum SAUE-3.510 in submerged fermentation

Abstract The use of congress grass ( Parthenium sp.) and water hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes ) as low cost raw materials for xylanase production from mutant Penicillium oxalicum SAU E -3.510 in submerged fermentation was investigated. For development of mutant from wild type P. oxalicum SA-8 ITCC 6024, a strategy of mixed mutagenesis was followed using UV-irradiation and ethidium bromide, which had resulted into 1.87 fold increases in the activity of the enzyme. For enzyme production, the fungus was cultivated in mineral medium containing congress grass as carbon source. Considerably higher levels of production (475.2 ± 6.0 IU ml −1 ) were achieved in media containing congress grass, although it was slightly less than that was obtained (488.5 ± 6.5 IU ml −1 ) in presence of commercial oat spelt xylan. This fact confirms the feasibility of using this low cost non-food resource as an alternative carbon source to save costs of the enzyme production process. Maximum xylanase activity was reported at 55 °C with its stability at 80 °C for 2 h. The highest activity of xylanase at pH 9.0 and its stability at similar pH for 24 h denote the alkalitolerant nature of enzyme.

A Review of Ecological Determinants of Territoriality within Vertebrate Species

Abstract We reviewed papers that compared intraspecific variation in territoriality vs. alternative forms of spatial or behavioral organization with three goals: (1) to discover which ecological variables act as determinants of territorial behavior and how they might act; (2) to extract and evaluate predictions and evidence for determinants of territoriality and (3) to suggest ways for future studies to build upon what the review revealed. Twenty ecological variables have been predicted, correlated with or experimentally demonstrated to relate to territoriality within vertebrate species. These variables include several characteristics of food: quantity, predictability, distribution, quality, renewal rate, type, density and assessibility. Other variables include nonfood resources, population density, habitat features, mates, space, refuges/spawning/home sites, predation pressure, host nests (for brood parasites) and energy availability. We suggest several reasons why food resources are cited most often, in...