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A conceptual biorefinery process has been designed for the integration of the protein extraction and the ethanol production from brewers’ spent grain (BSG) and palm kernel meal (PKM). The conceptual process is designed for an industrial scale biorefinery annually processing 20 kton dry weight BSG and 50 kton dry weight PKM with 8000 production hours per year and is used to techno-economically analyse the performance. The techno-economic analysis showed that the biorefinery of BSG has a high economic potential with an internal rate of return of 24 %. However, despite the high raw material costs, the biorefinery of PKM still has a positive internal rate of return of 12 %. The presented virtual biorefinery demonstrated the economic potential of integrating the production of a valuable product, like protein powder for food applications, with the production of biofuel, like ethanol, from the remaining biomass, thereby valorising a larger portion of the biomass with the same raw material costs.

Fungal pretreatment of plant biomass is often assessed by using single plant genotypes and single fungal strains, but can the process be improved by harmonizing both, thus selecting specific substrate-fungus combinations? To tackle this question, we treated four Miscanthus sinensis genotypes with four Ceriporiopsis subvermispora strains and thoroughly analyzed substrates and treated residues. The M. sinensis genotypes differed in cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contents and lignin-wise diverged in subunit and linkage composition and the incorporation of hydroxycinnamic acids and tricin. Independently of the M. sinensis genotype used, C. subvermispora strain MES13904 outperformed the other three strains in extent and selectivity of delignification and consistently generated the highest enzymatic residual carbohydrate conversion and structural changes in the residual lignin. The “best” substrate-fungus combination gave 63% w/w delignification and a total enzymatic glucose yield of 66% w/w, while the “worst” combination led to 3% w/w lignin removal only and negligible glucose yield improvement. Our study highlights that white-rot fungal treatment of plant biomass is driven by both compositional and structural features of the substrate as well as the genetic makeup of the fungal strain used. These insights contribute to expediting the biological valorization of lignocellulose and ultimately to enabling more controlled fungal pretreatments.

There is a need for new protein sources to feed the world in a sustainable way. Converting non-food-grade “woody” side streams into food containing proteins will contribute to this mission. Mushroom forming fungi are unique in their capability to convert lignocellulosic substances into edible biomass containing protein. Especially if substrate mycelium can be used instead of mushrooms, this technology could be a serious contribution to addressing the protein challenge. In this Perspective, we discuss challenges toward production, purification, and market introduction of mushroom mycelium based foods.

A first systematic approach on the base catalyzed depolymerization (BCD) of five technical lignins derived from various botanical origins (herbaceous, hardwood and softwood) and covering the main three industrial pulping methods (soda, kraft and organosolv) is reported. This study provides a first of its kind in-depth quantification and structural characterization of two main BCD fractions namely lignin oil and lignin residue, describing the influence of the BCD process conditions. Depolymerization is evaluated in terms of lignin conversion, lignin oil yield, phenolic monomer selectivity and the production of lignin residue and char. Lignin oils were extensively characterized by size exclusion chromatography (SEC), GC-MS, GC-FID, 13C-NMR, HSQC NMR and elemental analysis. GC × GC-FID was used to identify and quantify distinct groups of monomeric compounds (methoxy phenols, phenols, dihydroxy-benzenes) in the lignin oil. The lignin oil yields (w/w) ranged from 20-31% with total monomer contents ranging from 48 to 57% w/w. SEC analysis indicated the presence of dimers/oligomers in the lignin oil, which through HSQC NMR analysis were confirmed to contain new, non-native interunit linkages. 13C NMR analyses of the lignin oils suggest the presence of diaryl type linkages (i.e. aryl-aryl, aryl C-O) evidencing deconstruction and recombination of lignin fragments during BCD. Irrespective of the lignin source, a residue, often regarded as ‘unreacted’ residual lignin was the main product of BCD (43 to 70% w/w). Our study highlights that this residue has different structural properties and should not be considered as unreacted lignin, but rather as an alkali soluble condensed aromatic material. HSQC, DEPT-135, 13C, and 31P NMR and SEC analyses confirm that the BCD residues are indeed more condensed, with increased phenolic hydroxyl content and lower molecular weights compared to all feed lignins. Subsequent BCD of solid residual fractions produced only low oil yields (6-9% w/w) with lower phenolic monomer yields (4% w/w) compared to original lignin, confirming the significantly more recalcitrant structure. Our study improves the overall understanding of the BCD process, highlights important feedstock-dependent outcomes and ultimately contributes to the complete valorization of BCD-derived lignin streams.

Sugar beet leaves can be a viable and economically interesting source of high-quality protein for the food industry. We investigated how storage conditions and leaf wounding at harvest affect the content and quality of the soluble protein. After collection, leaves were either stored intact or shredded to mimic wounding induced by commercial leaf harvesters. Leaf material was stored in small volumes at different temperatures to assess leaf physiology or in larger volumes to assess temperature development at different locations in the bins. Protein degradation was more pronounced at higher storage temperatures. Wounding accelerated the degradation of soluble protein at all temperatures. Both wounding and storage at higher temperatures greatly stimulated respiration activity and heat production. At temperatures below 5°C, ribulose-1,5-biphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (RuBisCO) in intact leaves was preserved for up to 3 weeks. At temperatures of 30–40°C, RuBisCO degradation occurred within 48 h. Degradation was more pronounced in shredded leaves. In 0.8-m3 storage bins at ambient temperature, core temperatures rapidly increased, up to 25°C in intact leaves and up to 45°C in shredded leaves within 2–3 days. Immediate storage at 5°C greatly suppressed the temperature increase in intact but not in shredded leaves. The indirect effect of excessive wounding, that is, heat production, is discussed as the pivotal factor responsible for increased degradation of protein. For optimal retention of soluble protein levels and quality in harvested sugar beet leaves, it is advised to minimize wounding and to store the material at temperatures around −5°C. Practical Application: To preserve the soluble protein content and quality for at least 3 weeks, sugar beet leaves should be harvested with minimal wounding and stored at temperatures between 1 and 5°C. When aiming to store minimally wounded leaves in larger volumes, it must be ensured that the product temperature in the core of the biomass meets the temperature criterium or the cooling strategy must be adjusted. The principles of minimal wounding and low temperature storage are transferable to other leafy crops that are harvested for food protein.

Insoluble fiber degradation by supplemented enzymes was previously shown to improve fermentation in poultry, and has been further postulated to disrupt the cereal cell wall matrix, thus improving nutrient digestion. Here, we characterized insoluble feed-derived polysaccharides and lignin in digesta from broilers fed wheat-soybean and maize-soybean diets without or with xylanase/glucanase supplementation. Enzyme supplementation in wheat-soybean diet increased the yield of water-extractable arabinoxylan (AX) in the ileum. Still, most AX (> 73 %) remained insoluble across wheat-soybean and maize-soybean diets. Analysis of so-far largely ignored lignin demonstrated that a lignin-rich fiber fraction accumulated in the gizzard, while both insoluble AX and lignin reaching the ileum appeared to be excreted unfermented. More than 20 % of water-insoluble AX was extracted by 1 M NaOH and 11–20 % was sequentially extracted by 4 M NaOH, alongside other hemicelluloses, from ileal digesta and excreta across all diets. These findings showed that enzyme-supplementation did not impact AX extractability by alkali, under the current experimental conditions. It is, therefore, suggested that the degradation of insoluble AX by dietary xylanase in vivo mainly results in arabinoxylo-oligosaccharide release, which is not accompanied by a more loose cell wall architecture.

In this article the Table 3 with SD± was not properly adjusted. The original article has been corrected.

This report describes pineapple residues as potential feedstock for new carbon-based materials, especially the use of pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) in textiles. Using Costa Rica as a case study, five application domains of residues are identified. Cascading of different valorization options has the potential to increase resource use efficiencies and to reinforce the economic viability of individual valorization options. Various bottlenecks hampering a biomaterial transition in Costa Rica are identified, and a R&D agenda to address these bottlenecks.

Biobased Circulair (BBC) zal een nieuwe biobased building block en biopolymeerindustrie opzetten, die een significante positie heeft in de wereldeconomie, maar tegelijkertijd ook ingebed is in de Nederlandse of tenminste NW-Europese landbouw, bosbouw en landschappen. BBC zal niet alle biomassa die benodigd is voor de ambities van het consortium (2Mt Nederlandse bioplasticproductie in 2050) uit Nederland halen. Er wordt eerder gezocht naar een goede balans tussen wat op de internationale markt en omliggende landen kan worden verkregen en wat in Nederland kan worden geproduceerd. Uit deze studie blijkt dat wel degelijk een groot aandeel van de biogrondstoffen uit Nederland zou kunnen worden gehaald. In 2050 zal de landbouw er heel anders uit zal zien dan nu en gegeven de lopende discussies over de Nederlandse intensieve landbouw, is deze studie uitgegaan van een uitgewerkte visie die illustreert hoe landbouw beter ruimtelijk ingepast zou kunnen worden en tegelijkertijd een belangrijke rol zou kunnen spelen bij realisatie van ruimtelijke en milieu-opgaven1. De in deze studie geschetste ontwikkeling is nog voornamelijk vanuit het perspectief van voedselproductie opgesteld, maar de teelt van biomassa voor de productie van biobased building blocks en bioplastics kan niet losgezien worden van voedselproductie. In deze studie is geïllustreerd hoe BBC de landbouw op een aantal manieren kan versterken: 1. Het kan nieuwe markten creëren voor koolhydraten. Zeker de suikerbiet is in Nederland een zeer efficiënt suikergewas met hoge opbrengst. 2. Het kan reststromen uit de landbouw verwaarden en zo tot een beter verdienmodel komen voor de boer. Belangrijke reststroom die mogelijk hoogwaardiger verwaard kan worden in bioplastics is in ieder geval mestproductie uit de veeteelt, maar mogelijk ook lignocellulose reststromen uit de landbouw. 3. Tot slot zou extra areaal gewijd kunnen worden aan de productie van extra houtachtig materiaal door middel van houtwallen, singels, kleine bosjes rondom natuurgebieden en bijvoorbeeld agroforestry. Op deze manier kan zowel omgevingskwaliteit, biodiversiteit en productie van biomassa voor hoogwaardige producten gecombineerd worden. In relatie tot de teelt van biomassa voor non-food toepassingen, wordt vaak het bezwaar gemaakt dat de benodigde landbouwgrond ook gebruikt zou kunnen worden voor voedselproductie. De productie van koolhydraten voor bioplastics kan echter op gang gebracht worden zonder extra landbouwareaal aan te spreken: a) als gevolg van de verwachte toename opbrengsten per ha, b) de verwachte reductie in suikervraag door dieetveranderingen en c) indirecte landbesparing als gevolg van feed en food toepassing van bietenpulp, molasses en eiwit bietenblad waardoor deze niet elders geproduceerd hoeven worden. Daarnaast zijn er lignocellulose reststromen (2.000 kton, waarvan circa 1.000 kton suikers) en mest/RWZI-slib (16.000 kton, waarvan 3.000 kton droge stof) als grondstoffen beschikbaar, die nu vooral worden toegepast voor energieopwekking, maar hoogwaardiger zouden kunnen worden ingezet. Gegeven de verwachte verzilting in veel landbouwgebieden als gevolg van klimaatverandering, is de suikerbiet interessant omdat het een zeer zout tolerant gewas is dat geschikt is om te telen in verzilte gebieden en daarmee dus perspectief biedt voor de boeren in deze gebieden. Daarnaast kan de teelt van meer bomen voor de productie van biogrondstoffen helpen bij het verhogen van de wateropslagcapaciteit in de bodem en zou een rol kunnen spelen bij verkoeling als gevolg van verdamping die de bomen plaatsvindt. Ook zou de vergroting van houtteelt in en om extensieve landbouwgebieden zou een belangrijke bijdrage kunnen leveren aan de biodiversiteit. Bioplastics reduceren CO2 ten opzichte van fossiele plastics. In de BBC aanvraag wordt uitgegaan van circa 2 kg CO2-reductie per kg bioplastic ten opzichte van fossiele plastics. Zeker voor polyesters (belangrijke groep voor BBC) geldt dat zij efficiënter geproduceerd kunnen worden dan fossiele plastics, omdat de koolhydraten waaruit ze geproduceerd worden net als de polyesters al zuurstof bevatten. Ook slaan ze biogene CO2 op die tijdens de teelt van biomassa wordt vastgelegd. Biobased polyesters kunnen biodegradeerbaar en/of recyclebaar zijn. Technisch is het mogelijk om bioplastics te recyclen. De uitdaging ligt vooral in het creëren van voldoende marktaandeel en de inzamel en keteninfrastructuur om de bioplastics in te zamelen en uit te sorteren.

The transition to a bioeconomy requires vast amounts of feedstock to serve a wide range of functionalities in a broad panel of applications in sectors as: construction, textile, paper, automotive, horticulture, and livestock farming. Herbaceous crops and residue streams like flax, hemp, miscanthus, cereal straw, reed and verge grass offer a wide range of characteristics which can serve multiple applications. This report analyses and explores the potential of production and valorisation of herbaceous feedstock in the Netherlands and eventually at regional level. An analysis is made of current production and applications of herbaceous crops and residue streams. Present supply and demand were matched by an evaluation of imports and exports. Circular economy policies, agendas and ambitions were reviewed for relevant topics: climate change, circular bioeconomy, regional development; and at 3 levels: EU, Netherlands and province of Gelderland. Also, important considerations regarding circularity and sustainability aspects of biobased value chains were discussed, with focus on construction and textiles sector. Further, potential future use in products, indication of demanded product volumes for most promising applications, and production of herbaceous feedstock in the Netherlands in 2050 were studied. An exercise to match estimated demand and required production area was performed, taking into consideration typical scale of conversion technologies related to product demand. Subsequently a SWOT analysis for use of each herbaceous feedstock for regional conversion into bio-based applications is carried out to identify the main points of attention and needs such as knowledge, infrastructure, collaborations, regulations and policies, technology for the valorisation of different feedstocks for different applications. Finally, recommendations are provided to next possible actions to materialise the transition to regional supply of herbaceous biomass for making bio-based products by local circular value chains. Compared to conventional crops, flax, hemp and miscanthus are relatively small crops in production volumes. Each of them finds its way in a diverse range of applications as mentioned above. And despite the small volumes, flax and hemp feedstock and products are exported and imported for several reasons, circularity and regionality not being an aspect of decisive importance. Cereal straw as a side stream and verge grass and reed as residue streams are produced in much higher quantities, yet they are underutilised from a circular economy perspective and mainly ploughed under directly without prior other use. Using e.g. cereal straw as animal bedding first would retain the soil improving capacity while largely reducing the need to import straw. Towards combatting climate change, establishing circular bioeconomy and developing regional value chains, policy frameworks are set at the 3 levels: EU, Netherlands and province of Gelderland. What is missing, however, is focus on value added specializations and innovations in circular economy. As a consequence strategies for the transition towards circular economy and agriculture concepts are not clear, implementation schemes are limited and long-term coordination and support is invisible. As it comes to practical rules of thumb for circularity and sustainability of biobased value chains, specific considerations are presented for construction and textiles sector. Looking to the future (2050), herbaceous biomass will find increasing application in a wide range of sectors. For that, significant amounts of bio-feedstock will be required. The main reasons to expect that cultivation of herbaceous crops will increase substantially are: their potential to contribute to the circular economy and the use of biobased materials to replace fossil feedstock (circular economy policy goals), the storage of carbon (climate goals), and using less inputs like pesticides and fertilizer and less tillage compared to conventional crops (environmental goals). To stimulate the transition to circular and regional value chains in the Netherlands and to avoid the ‘chicken-and-egg’ problem, it is essential to kick-start and provide long-term coordination of the triple requirement: accelerate increased cultivation of the feedstock, increase (collective) demand for circular and biobased products, and investments in production capacity. Regions and Provinces play an important role in this. Also, regions and provinces need to review their strengths and opportunities and focus on specific value chains because the typical (economically feasible) conversion scales are relatively large and consequently a limited number of production facilities fit in the Netherlands.

Several professionals realised recently that there are three, and only three options to source fossil free carbon-based materials: using biomass, applying CO 2 capture and utilisation technologies, and using recycled materials. In our discussions with colleagues and other stakeholder we realised that it is difficult to grasp the differences and similarities between these three feedstock options for the production of materials. However, when seen from a chemical and polymer science angle, there is a logical structure underlying these three production routes for carbon-based materials. It is therefore that we wrote this booklet. - In the first two chapters we highlight the role of carbon in our everyday materials, and we present a framework of the basic similarities between all carbon-based materials. Building on this framework, we then describe how the three different feedstock routes can contribute to our future materials supply: Biomass in Chapter 3, CO2 technologies in Chapter 4 and recycling in Chapter 5. Chapter6 is dedicated to the complexities in the production chains for materials, and the roles of specific stakeholders towards realising the materials transition.

Klimaatverandering is een grote uitdaging geworden op internationaal, Europees, nationaal en regionaal niveau. De gevolgen van klimaatverandering moeten worden beperkt door het voorkomen en verminderen van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen (BKG) in de atmosfeer. Er zijn verschillende beleids- en boekhoudkundige kaders ontwikkeld om dit te bewerkstelligen. Deze kaders stellen specifieke doelstellingen voor reductie van emissies van broeikasgassen of verhoogde vastlegging van CO2 vast en bieden een gestructureerde aanpak om dit probleem op te lossen. Dit rapport heeft tot doel om beleidsmedewerkers van het Nederlandse ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit (LNV) te informeren over hoe een verhoging van het aanbod aan biomassa uit bosbouw en landbouw voor de productie van chemische stoffen en materialen binnen deze kaders worden meegenomen en meegewogen en kunnen worden ingezet voor het beperken van klimaatverandering een verhoging van het aanbod aan biomassa uit bosbouw en landbouw omvatten voor de productie van chemische stoffen en materialen die kunnen bijdragen aan vermindering van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen. Dit desktoponderzoek volgt een 'systeemperspectiefbenadering' om de rol die biobased materialen1 kunnen spelen bij het verminderen van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen te bestuderen. Deze benadering biedt inzicht in de verbanden tussen biobased producten, nationale broeikasgasinventarissen en wereldwijde afspraken. Begrip van deze verbanden en kennis over welke boekhoudmethoden voor broeikasgasemissies en -verwijderingen worden toegepast is noodzakelijk voor het identificeren van mogelijke nadelen en voor het ontwikkelen van toekomstige beleidsrichtlijnen. Na deze review concluderen we dat het belangrijk is om bekend te zijn met en de waarde te erkennen in de huidige bestaande boekhoudmethoden. De bestaande kaders missen echter nog belangrijke kenmerken die robuustere boekhoudmethoden voor koolstofvastlegging en -opslag in biobased materialen mogelijk zouden kunnen maken. Op dit moment werkt de Europese Commissie aan voorstellen zoals het "Carbon Farming framework" en het "Carbon Removal Certification Framework" (december 2022) en de invoering van een "Carbon Storage Products Pool". Deze voorstellen zouden een belangrijke rol kunnen spelen bij het opzetten van duidelijke boekhoudregels die de productie van biomassa koppelen aan biobased materialen en de bijdrage daarvan aan nationaal beleid ter ondersteuning van broeikasgasreductiedoelstellingen waarderen. Dit vereist samenwerking en informatie-uitwisseling tussen de Europese landen. Daarom is het belangrijk om de ontwikkeling van deze kaders en de daarin voorgestelde boekhoudregels nauwgezet te volgen.

Advances in economic processing technologies have the potential to make green leaf proteins a viable source of large volumes of functional protein.

Climate change has become an important challenge at International, European, National and Regional level. Mitigation of climate change by preventing and reducing the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere is needed to make the impacts of climate change less severe. To ensure this, different mitigation frameworks have been created. These frameworks set specific GHG reduction goals and provide a more structured approach to solve this problem. This report aims to provide information to the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) on and how some climate change mitigation frameworks are including the increase forestry and agricultural biomass supply to produce chemicals and materials that can contribute to the reduction of GHG emission. This desktop research follows a ‘systems perspective approach’ to study the role of biobased materials’ 1 in the reduction of GHG emission. This approach allows the understanding of interactions between biobased products, national inventories and global agreements. Understanding these links and having knowledge on which GHG gases accounting methods are being applied is necessary for the identification of possible drawbacks and for the development of future policy guidelines. After this review, we conclude that it is important to be familiar with and recognize the value in current existing accounting methodologies. However, existing frameworks are still lacking important features which could enable more robust account methodologies for carbon sequestration and storage in biobased materials. At this moment in time, the European Commission is working on proposals like the ‘Carbon Farming framework’ and ‘carbon removals certification framework’ (December 2022) and introducing a ‘carbon storage products pool’, these proposals could play and important role on establishing clear accounting rules that connect the biomass production to biobased materials and its contribution to support National Policies towards GHG reduction targets. This will require collaboration and information exchange between European countries. Therefore, is important to follow closely the evolution of these frameworks and their proposed accounting rules. This document is organized in the following way: • Section 2, introduces terminologies, frameworks and methods for GHG accounting at different levels International, Europe and Netherlands. • Section 3 is dedicated to understanding how biobased products for could contribute to the Climate targets by substituting other GHG intensive materials, extending the life span of the product or by cascading use of the biomass. • Section 4 shows two examples on how the GHG balances of two different linear biobased supply chains are estimated at the product accounting level and how this relates to the national level inventory reporting and the global agreements. • Section 5 presents our conclusions and recommendations.

Biobased Circulair (BBC) zal een nieuwe biobased building block en biopolymeerindustrie opzetten, die een significante positie heeft in de wereldeconomie, maar tegelijkertijd ook ingebed is in de Nederlandse of tenminste NW-Europese landbouw, bosbouw en landschappen. BBC zal niet alle biomassa die benodigd is voor de ambities van het consortium (2Mt Nederlandse bioplasticproductie in 2050) uit Nederland halen. Er wordt eerder gezocht naar een goede balans tussen wat op de internationale markt en omliggende landen kan worden verkregen en wat in Nederland kan worden geproduceerd. Uit deze studie blijkt dat wel degelijk een groot aandeel van de biogrondstoffen uit Nederland zou kunnen worden gehaald. In 2050 zal de landbouw er heel anders uit zal zien dan nu en gegeven de lopende discussies over de Nederlandse intensieve landbouw, is deze studie uitgegaan van een uitgewerkte visie die illustreert hoe landbouw beter ruimtelijk ingepast zou kunnen worden en tegelijkertijd een belangrijke rol zou kunnen spelen bij realisatie van ruimtelijke en milieu-opgaven1. De in deze studie geschetste ontwikkeling is nog voornamelijk vanuit het perspectief van voedselproductie opgesteld, maar de teelt van biomassa voor de productie van biobased building blocks en bioplastics kan niet losgezien worden van voedselproductie. In deze studie is geïllustreerd hoe BBC de landbouw op een aantal manieren kan versterken: 1. Het kan nieuwe markten creëren voor koolhydraten. Zeker de suikerbiet is in Nederland een zeer efficiënt suikergewas met hoge opbrengst. 2. Het kan reststromen uit de landbouw verwaarden en zo tot een beter verdienmodel komen voor de boer. Belangrijke reststroom die mogelijk hoogwaardiger verwaard kan worden in bioplastics is in ieder geval mestproductie uit de veeteelt, maar mogelijk ook lignocellulose reststromen uit de landbouw. 3. Tot slot zou extra areaal gewijd kunnen worden aan de productie van extra houtachtig materiaal door middel van houtwallen, singels, kleine bosjes rondom natuurgebieden en bijvoorbeeld agroforestry. Op deze manier kan zowel omgevingskwaliteit, biodiversiteit en productie van biomassa voor hoogwaardige producten gecombineerd worden. In relatie tot de teelt van biomassa voor non-food toepassingen, wordt vaak het bezwaar gemaakt dat de benodigde landbouwgrond ook gebruikt zou kunnen worden voor voedselproductie. De productie van koolhydraten voor bioplastics kan echter op gang gebracht worden zonder extra landbouwareaal aan te spreken: a) als gevolg van de verwachte toename opbrengsten per ha, b) de verwachte reductie in suikervraag door dieetveranderingen en c) indirecte landbesparing als gevolg van feed en food toepassing van bietenpulp, molasses en eiwit bietenblad waardoor deze niet elders geproduceerd hoeven worden. Daarnaast zijn er lignocellulose reststromen (2.000 kton, waarvan circa 1.000 kton suikers) en mest/RWZI-slib (16.000 kton, waarvan 3.000 kton droge stof) als grondstoffen beschikbaar, die nu vooral worden toegepast voor energieopwekking, maar hoogwaardiger zouden kunnen worden ingezet. Gegeven de verwachte verzilting in veel landbouwgebieden als gevolg van klimaatverandering, is de suikerbiet interessant omdat het een zeer zout tolerant gewas is dat geschikt is om te telen in verzilte gebieden en daarmee dus perspectief biedt voor de boeren in deze gebieden. Daarnaast kan de teelt van meer bomen voor de productie van biogrondstoffen helpen bij het verhogen van de wateropslagcapaciteit in de bodem en zou een rol kunnen spelen bij verkoeling als gevolg van verdamping die de bomen plaatsvindt. Ook zou de vergroting van houtteelt in en om extensieve landbouwgebieden zou een belangrijke bijdrage kunnen leveren aan de biodiversiteit. Bioplastics reduceren CO2 ten opzichte van fossiele plastics. In de BBC aanvraag wordt uitgegaan van circa 2 kg CO2-reductie per kg bioplastic ten opzichte van fossiele plastics. Zeker voor polyesters (belangrijke groep voor BBC) geldt dat zij efficiënter geproduceerd kunnen worden dan fossiele plastics, omdat de koolhydraten waaruit ze geproduceerd worden net als de polyesters al zuurstof bevatten. Ook slaan ze biogene CO2 op die tijdens de teelt van biomassa wordt vastgelegd. Biobased polyesters kunnen biodegradeerbaar en/of recyclebaar zijn. Technisch is het mogelijk om bioplastics te recyclen. De uitdaging ligt vooral in het creëren van voldoende marktaandeel en de inzamel en keteninfrastructuur om de bioplastics in te zamelen en uit te sorteren.

A total of 120,000 tonnes per year of crop waste from contaminated land has been used as a feedstock for anaerobic digestion (AD). This produces only around 20% of biogas from the total crop and results in a large amount of digestate with heavy metal content. This crop digestate was analyzed across a calendar year to identify the variation in composition, and any potential high-value components that could be targeted for recovery. The chemical characterization revealed that approximately 65% of this residual waste is lignocellulosic material (20% hemicellulose, 24% cellulose, 24% lignin) and about 10% is ash, with no observable difference across the seasons. Three different pyrolysis technologies were studied with the same crop digestate as alternative route to maximize the value of this solid residue by transforming this lignocellulosic material into further bio-based products. Slow pyrolysis at operating temperatures between 355 and 530 °C resulted in bio-oil yields of 35–46% wt, fast pyrolysis at 460–560 °C produced 36–40% wt, and microwave pyrolysis using a power input of 500 and 700 W generated 8–27% wt from the digestate. Chemical compounds found in these bio-oils were categorized into seven chemical groups: acids, aldehydes and ketones, alcohols, furans, sugars, phenolics, and others. This analytical study opens other scenarios to explore the upgrading of these pyrolytic bio-oils for green product generation from the same waste. Graphical Abstract

The development and sustainability of second-generation biorefineries are essential for the production of high added value compounds and biofuels and their application at the industrial level. Pretreatment is one of the most critical stages in biomass processing. In this specific case, hydrothermal pretreatments (liquid hot water [LHW] and steam explosion [SE]) are considered the most promising process for the fractionation, hydrolysis and structural modifications of biomass. This review focuses on architecture of the plant cell wall and composition, fundamentals of hydrothermal pretreatment, process design integration, the techno-economic parameters of the solubilization of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) focused on the operational costs for large-scale process implementation and the global manufacturing cost. In addition, profitability indicators are evaluated between the value-added products generated during hydrothermal pretreatment, advocating a biorefinery implementation in a circular economy framework. In addition, this review includes an analysis of environmental aspects of sustainability involved in hydrothermal pretreatments.

Fresh markets in Dhaka (vegetables, fruits, meat, fish) produce large amounts of waste which are currently transported to landfill sites. However, landfilling requires land area and causes an atmospheric emission of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Therefore, the policy of the city corporations (Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC)) is to stop landfilling and process fresh market waste in a different way. As part of the FAO – WUR project “Support for Modelling, Planning and Improving Dhaka’s Food System (DFS)” alternatives for valorising fresh market waste were studied: biogas (a renewable fuel) production from the organic fraction and black soldier fly larvae production (a feed for chicken and fish). In this report decentral and central digestion (biogas production) are evaluated. Decentral digestion (11.5 tonnes organic waste per day) appeared to be more cost effective than the current method (landfilling) in which high costs for transport and landfilling are made. However, the land area requirement for decentral biogas production plants (250 m2) is the most important drawback. Generally it is not available near current markets. The alternative is central digestion. That processes the waste from a number of markets (up to 10) on a site outside the residential areas, e.g., on the current landfill sites, benefits from the economy of scale (less costly per tonne waste processed) and better availability of skilled operators and engineers at a large waste processing plant at which more activities take place (e.g., eco-town with composting plant, recycling/sorting facilities, and waste-to-energy plant). Larger plants can hire more operators and engineers which have different specializations and skills. A design was made for processing 100 tonnes of the organic fraction of fresh market waste per day. It is estimated that this plant produces net 444 kW renewable electricity, which can be supplied to the local electricity grid. The solid fraction of the digestate can be converted into compost. The investment costs for such a central digestion plant, including engineering and installation are estimated at 103 million BDT, an order of magnitude lower than the investment costs previously estimated by DSCC (2019). The revenues from the sales of the electricity almost cover the costs for the transportation of the waste, the interest for the investments, the maintenance, and labour costs. This is a considerable cost saving compared to landfilling. The payback time for the investments is estimated at 3.4 years. If the investments would be 50% higher, the payback time may still be acceptable (6 years). It can be concluded that central digestion has an interesting business case, it saves land area (landfilling) and it prevents emission of large amounts of methane (a potent greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere.

Fractionating protein from other components, such as complex carbohydrates and phytochemicals, is currently required for application in plant-based foods but emerging scientific knowledge enables application of less-refined ingredients.

Fractionating protein from other components, such as complex carbohydrates and phytochemicals, is currently required for application in plant-based foods but emerging scientific knowledge enables application of less-refined ingredients.

The transition to a bioeconomy requires vast amounts of feedstock to serve a wide range of functionalities in a broad panel of applications in sectors as: construction, textile, paper, automotive, horticulture, and livestock farming. Herbaceous crops and residue streams like flax, hemp, miscanthus, cereal straw, reed and verge grass offer a wide range of characteristics which can serve multiple applications. This report analyses and explores the potential of production and valorisation of herbaceous feedstock in the Netherlands and eventually at regional level. An analysis is made of current production and applications of herbaceous crops and residue streams. Present supply and demand were matched by an evaluation of imports and exports. Circular economy policies, agendas and ambitions were reviewed for relevant topics: climate change, circular bioeconomy, regional development; and at 3 levels: EU, Netherlands and province of Gelderland. Also, important considerations regarding circularity and sustainability aspects of biobased value chains were discussed, with focus on construction and textiles sector. Further, potential future use in products, indication of demanded product volumes for most promising applications, and production of herbaceous feedstock in the Netherlands in 2050 were studied. An exercise to match estimated demand and required production area was performed, taking into consideration typical scale of conversion technologies related to product demand. Subsequently a SWOT analysis for use of each herbaceous feedstock for regional conversion into bio-based applications is carried out to identify the main points of attention and needs such as knowledge, infrastructure, collaborations, regulations and policies, technology for the valorisation of different feedstocks for different applications. Finally, recommendations are provided to next possible actions to materialise the transition to regional supply of herbaceous biomass for making bio-based products by local circular value chains. Compared to conventional crops, flax, hemp and miscanthus are relatively small crops in production volumes. Each of them finds its way in a diverse range of applications as mentioned above. And despite the small volumes, flax and hemp feedstock and products are exported and imported for several reasons, circularity and regionality not being an aspect of decisive importance. Cereal straw as a side stream and verge grass and reed as residue streams are produced in much higher quantities, yet they are underutilised from a circular economy perspective and mainly ploughed under directly without prior other use. Using e.g. cereal straw as animal bedding first would retain the soil improving capacity while largely reducing the need to import straw. Towards combatting climate change, establishing circular bioeconomy and developing regional value chains, policy frameworks are set at the 3 levels: EU, Netherlands and province of Gelderland. What is missing, however, is focus on value added specializations and innovations in circular economy. As a consequence strategies for the transition towards circular economy and agriculture concepts are not clear, implementation schemes are limited and long-term coordination and support is invisible. As it comes to practical rules of thumb for circularity and sustainability of biobased value chains, specific considerations are presented for construction and textiles sector. Looking to the future (2050), herbaceous biomass will find increasing application in a wide range of sectors. For that, significant amounts of bio-feedstock will be required. The main reasons to expect that cultivation of herbaceous crops will increase substantially are: their potential to contribute to the circular economy and the use of biobased materials to replace fossil feedstock (circular economy policy goals), the storage of carbon (climate goals), and using less inputs like pesticides and fertilizer and less tillage compared to conventional crops (environmental goals). To stimulate the transition to circular and regional value chains in the Netherlands and to avoid the ‘chicken-and-egg’ problem, it is essential to kick-start and provide long-term coordination of the triple requirement: accelerate increased cultivation of the feedstock, increase (collective) demand for circular and biobased products, and investments in production capacity. Regions and Provinces play an important role in this. Also, regions and provinces need to review their strengths and opportunities and focus on specific value chains because the typical (economically feasible) conversion scales are relatively large and consequently a limited number of production facilities fit in the Netherlands.

This report describes pineapple residues as potential feedstock for new carbon-based materials, especially the use of pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) in textiles. Using Costa Rica as a case study, five application domains of residues are identified. Cascading of different valorization options has the potential to increase resource use efficiencies and to reinforce the economic viability of individual valorization options. Various bottlenecks hampering a biomaterial transition in Costa Rica are identified, and a R&D agenda to address these bottlenecks.

Binnen het PPS project Circulaire bio-economie is onder meer gekeken naar het verhogen van de nutritionele waarde van co-producten uit de humane voeding voor gebruik als diervoeder middels het verwijderen van mineralen. Doelstelling van dit project was het verwijderen van een substantieel deel van de mineralen Na, K en P met een minimaal verlies aan organisch stof (inclusief eiwit), volgens een procesconcept bestaande uit twee opvolgende stappen: afscheiding van vaste delen (Solid/Liquid (S/L) scheiding) gevolgd door verdere ontzouting van de vloeistoffase en terugwinning van opgeloste organische droge stof hieruit middels membraanfiltratie. Processen en procescondities werden zo gekozen dat deze opschaalbaar zijn naar een industrieel proces. Behandelde co-producten zijn tarwegistconcentraat (TGC) en maisweekwater (MWW). Binnen het project zijn vier activiteiten uitgevoerd: − In de eerste twee activiteiten is de S/L-scheiding op industriële schaal geëvalueerd middels experimenteel onderzoek. Ook is nagegaan of een voorbehandeling van MWW met fytase resulteert in meer P in oplossing, zodat er uiteindelijk meer P verwijderd kan worden. − In de derde activiteit is onderzocht hoe de mineralenverwijdering met ultrafiltratie (UF) of nanofiltratie (NF) op industriële schaal kan worden uitgevoerd. − Op basis van de verkregen experimentele resultaten is een procesconcept ontwikkeld voor het ontzouten van co-producten, inclusief flowchart met bijbehorende massabalans. Voor een aantal scenario’s is een globale schatting gemaakt van investeringskosten en productiekosten waarmee de economische haalbaarheid in een later stadium kan worden geëvalueerd. S/L-scheiding van verschillende co-producten op industriële schaal (schotelcentrifuge) is succesvol gesimuleerd in een labschaal centrifuge met aangepaste procescondities. Uit TGC kan effectief een vaste fractie worden verkregen met een verlaagd gehalte aan mineralen. Met een extra wasstap van de vaste fractie kan het zoutgehalte verder worden verlaagd, echter ten koste van een lagere opbrengst aan organische stof. Niet-geconcentreerd (licht) maisweekwater (MWW-L) kan worden gescheiden in een heldere vloeistoffractie en een kleine vaste fractie met een sterk verlaagd gehalte aan mineralen. MWW in geconcentreerde (ingedampte) vorm dat in de praktijk doorgaans wordt gebruikt, is onder industriële condities onvoldoende effectief te scheiden. Een extra voorbehandeling van MWW met fytase heeft geresulteerd in een beperkte verlaging van het P-gehalte (10%) in de vaste fractie. Membraanfiltratie is positief beoordeeld op toepasbaarheid als proces voor concentrering van organische stof en eiwit (hoge retentie) in combinatie met een verlaging van het mineralengehalte (lage retentie). Beide geteste membranen (UF en NF) zijn geschikt voor terugwinning van organische stof en eiwit en gelijktijdige verwijdering van zouten en fosfaat uit de vloeistoffractie van TGC. Voor MWW-L is nanofiltratie het meest geschikt voor verwijdering van zouten met uitzondering van fosfaat welke niet kan worden uitgespoeld zonder grote verliezen aan eiwit en organische stof. Voor drie scenario’s (ontzouten van TGC, niet-geconcentreerde TGC (nc) en MWW-L) is een procesconcept ontwikkeld bestaande uit een S/L-scheiding (decanter) gevolgd door een gecombineerde concentrerings- en ontzoutingsstap (UF en NF). De massabalans over dit procesconcept laat zien dat het zoutgehalte in het ontzoute eindproduct van de drie co-producten is verlaagd, waarbij het grootste aandeel is verwijderd in de S/L-scheiding van de niet-geconcentreerde co-producten TGC (nc) en MWW-L. Het fosfaatgehalte is in beide TGC co-producten afgenomen na ontzouten. Voor MWW-L kan het fosfaatgehalte niet worden verlaagd met het geteste membraan. Voor de drie scenario’s is een globale schatting gemaakt van investeringskosten en productiekosten. Voor een economische evaluatie van het procesconcept moeten naast kosten ook de baten in kaart worden gebracht. De baten (opbrengst van zowel het ontzoutte product als mineraalrijke nevenfractie) zijn onder meer afhankelijk van de nutritionele waarde van de producten. Aanbevolen wordt om deze nutritionele waarde en potentiële opbrengsten nader vast te stellen zodat het procesconcept kan worden beoordeeld op economische haalbaarheid.

Several professionals realised recently that there are three, and only three options to source fossil free carbon-based materials: using biomass, applying CO 2 capture and utilisation technologies, and using recycled materials. In our discussions with colleagues and other stakeholder we realised that it is difficult to grasp the differences and similarities between these three feedstock options for the production of materials. However, when seen from a chemical and polymer science angle, there is a logical structure underlying these three production routes for carbon-based materials. It is therefore that we wrote this booklet. - In the first two chapters we highlight the role of carbon in our everyday materials, and we present a framework of the basic similarities between all carbon-based materials. Building on this framework, we then describe how the three different feedstock routes can contribute to our future materials supply: Biomass in Chapter 3, CO2 technologies in Chapter 4 and recycling in Chapter 5. Chapter6 is dedicated to the complexities in the production chains for materials, and the roles of specific stakeholders towards realising the materials transition.

Advances in economic processing technologies have the potential to make green leaf proteins a viable source of large volumes of functional protein.

Achieving a circular economy (CE) is seen by society and policymakers as crucial to achieving a sustainable, resource-efficient, renewable and competitive economy. Given the current threat of climate change, we must develop new products that not only maximise the circularity of resources but also minimise climate change impacts. While these two goals are usually aligned, trade-offs exist. For instance, recycling biobased asphalt is a better end-of-life option than landfilling from a resource efficiency perspective. However, landfilling of biogenic non-biodegradable material leads to permanent carbon storage and, therefore, climate benefits. To fully understand the potential benefits and impacts of biobased circular innovations, we need metrics to capture their complexity from both a circular and climate point of view. This study explores the use of different circularity and sustainability metrics to understand the impacts and trade-offs of lignin-based versus bitumen-based asphalts. The analysis is done by calculating the Material Circularity Index (MCI) and two newly developed indicators quantifying the biogenic carbon storage (BCS) of products (BCS100 and c-BCS) while following the CE principles. In addition, the impacts regarding climate change, life cycle costs and ECI (environmental costs indicator) are also provided. Based on the MCI, it can be concluded that lignin-based asphalt roads have slightly higher material circularity than their bitumen-based counterparts. The BCS analysis indicated that the least circular lignin-based alternative sequesters the highest amount of carbon in the long term due to permanent storage in foundations. Despite these trade-offs, the results from the newly developed BCS indicators allowed to align both climate and circularity goals, guiding policymakers and industry actors to implement circular biobased strategies where the value of biobased materials is optimised. Finally, this article discusses the use of different circularity and environmental metrics for decision making in the context of a circular biobased economy., Journal of Cleaner Production, 379 (Part 2), ISSN:0959-6526

Grape seeds are the wineries’ main by-products, and their disposal causes ecological and environmental problems. In this study seeds from the pomace waste of autochthonous grape varieties from Lebanon, Obeidi (white variety) and Asswad Karech (red variety) were used for a multi-step biomass fractionation. For the first step, a lipid extraction was performed, and the obtained yield was 12.33% (w/w) for Obeidi and 13.04% (w/w) for Asswad Karech. For the second step, polyphenols’ recovery from the defatted seeds was carried out, resulting in 12.0% (w/w) for Obeidi and 6.6% (w/w) for Asswad Karech, with Obeidi’s extract having the highest total phenolic content (333.1 ± 1.6 mg GAE/g dry matter) and antioxidant activity (662.17 ± 0.01 µg/mL of Trolox equivalent). In the third step, the defatted and dephenolized seeds were subsequently extracted under alkaline conditions and the proteins were isoelectric precipitated. The recovered protein extract was 3.90% (w/w) for Obeidi and 4.11% (w/w) for Asswad Karech seeds, with Asswad Karech’s extract having the highest protein content (64 ± 0.2 mg protein/g dry matter). The remaining exhausted residue can be valorized in cosmetic scrubs formulations as a replacement for plastic microbeads. The designed zero-waste approach multi-step biomass fractionation has the potential to improve the valorization of the side products (grape seeds) of these two Lebanese autochthonous grape varieties.

(1) Background: Eryngium creticum is a plant medicinally valued, and used in pharmacopeia to treat various diseases. No previous studies have been reported on E. creticum leaf extracts using an IR-assisted technique; thus, this study aimed to intensify polyphenol extraction using Ired-Irrad®, comparing it to the conventional water bath (WB) method. (2) Methods: Optimization of polyphenol extraction from E. creticum leaves was conducted using Response Surface Methodology. Ired-Irrad® was used and compared to the WB method. The biological activities (antiradical, antioxidant, antibacterial, and antibiofilm) of both extracts were assessed. UHPLC analysis was performed to analyze the phytochemical profile of both extracts. (3) Results: Under optimal conditions, IR improved the polyphenol extraction yield by 1.7 times, while lowering ethanol consumption by 1.5 times. Regarding the antibacterial activity, both WB and IR E. creticum leaf extracts exhibited the highest antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus epidermidis. The maximum biofilm prevention capacity was also noticed against S. epidermidis. UHPLC-MS analysis quantified two major phenolic compounds in both extracts: rutin and sinapic acid. (4) Conclusions: Ired-Irrad® technology proved to be an effective technique in intensifying polyphenol recovery, while preserving their quantity and quality.

Growing energy crops on marginal lands is an option to increase current bioresources while avoiding the food vs fuel dilemma. Yet, little is known about the extent and characteristics of marginal lands, and about how growing energy crops on such lands will impacts productivity, supply chains, and the environment. This study combined a geographic information system, a crop growth model, life cycle assessment, and a logistics model to (i) quantify and map marginal lands (ii) estimate the yields of miscanthus grown thereon (iii) assess the impact on supply chain and the environment of miscanthus from marginal lands in Brittany. Three miscanthus harvest forms (chips, bundles, and bales) and three logistics scenarios (no storage, one storage point, and two storage points) were studied. It showed that 57544 ha of marginal lands are available in Brittany and that rooting (55%) and salinity (34%) were the dominant marginality factors of these lands. Miscanthus yields on these lands varied from 0 to 21 t DM ha−1 y−1, depending on marginality constraints. Despite the low energy use (311–604 MJ t−1 DM) and GHG emissions (6–19 kg CO2-eq t−1 DM), the delivery costs were too high (81–108 € t−1 DM). Bales were the cheapest and most environmental-friendly biomass form, as was the logistics configuration with no storage point. Sourcing biomass from marginal lands offers a solution for sustainable biofuel production in Brittany. However, economic incentives are needed to encourage production on marginal lands given the high delivery costs of biomass.

Due to low bioavailability of dietary phenolic compounds in small intestine, their metabolism by gut microbiota is gaining increasing attention. The microbial metabolism of theasinensin A (TSA), a bioactive catechin dimer found in black tea, has not been studied yet. Here, TSA was extracted and purified for in vitro fermentation by human fecal microbiota, and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and procyanidin B2 (PCB2) were used for comparison. Despite the similarity in their flavan-3-ol skeletons, metabolic fate of TSA was distinctively different. After degalloylation, its core biphenyl-2,2',3,3',4,4'-hexaol structure remained intact during fermentation. Conversely, EGCG and PCB2 were promptly degraded into a series of hydroxylated phenylcarboxylic acids. Computational analyses comparing TSA and PCB2 revealed that TSA's stronger interflavanic bond and more compact stereo-configuration might underlie its lower fermentability. These insights in the recalcitrance of theasinensins to degradation by human gut microbiota are of key importance for a comprehensive understanding of its health benefits.

Starch is added to meat analogues for binding and water holding. In this study, we investigate whether starch can have an additional role as a structuring agent. Therefore, different types of starch were combined with wheat gluten at various amounts and sheared in a High Temperature Shear Cell to determine how starch influences the structuring behavior of gluten–starch blends. The starches were chosen based on their diverse amylose contents, leading to different technological properties. Remarkable differences were found between the starches investigated. The addition of Amioca starch (containing 1% amylose) had a strong negative influence on the ability of gluten to form fibers. Maize starch (25% amylose) and Hylon VII (68% amylose) formed fibrous materials up to high starch additions. The pre-gelatinizing of maize starch further increased the ability of gluten–starch mixtures to form fibrous structures. The influence of the different types of starch on the hardness, deformability, and stiffness of the sheared samples was also assessed, revealing a spectrum of achievable properties through the addition of starch. Most remarkable was the formation of a material with anisotropy in Young’s modules. This anisotropy is also found in chicken meat, but not in protein-based fibrous materials. Furthermore, it was observed that the pre-gelatinization of starch facilitated fiber formation. A similar effect of pre-gelatinizing the starch was found when using faba bean meal with added wheat gluten, where fibrous structures could even be formed in a recipe that previously failed to produce such structures without pre-treatment.

One way to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change, is for society to move towards a biobased economy, where fossil resources are replaced by biobased ones. This replacement requires the development of biobased supply chains that differ significantly from the conventional supply chain. For example, seasonality and variability of the feedstocks create specific challenges for biobased systems and call for customized solutions for the design and operation of biobased chains. As a result, the modelling efforts to support decision-making processes for biobased logistics and supply chains have some different requirements. This paper presents a systematic literature review on logistics and supply chain modelling studies for the biobased economy published in a period of 2011–2020. The literature analysis shows that most modelling studies for the biobased economy are strategic optimization models aiming to minimize economic impact. As biomass source, forest and agricultural residues are mostly used, and fuel and energy are the most common biobased applications. Modelling strategies, biomass sources and applications are however diversifying, which is what we encourage for future research. Also, not only focusing on economic optimization but also optimizing social and environmental performance is an important future research direction, to deal with the sustainability challenges the world is facing.

In order to improve the lignin exploitation to added-value bioproducts, a mild chemical conversion route based on electrochemistry was investigated. For the first time, soda lignin Protobind™ 1000 (technical lignin from the pulp & paper industry) was studied by cyclic voltammetry to preliminarily investigate the effect of the main reaction parameters, such as the type of electrode material (platinum, nickel oxide hydroxide, graphite), the pH (12, 13, 14), the scan rate (10, 50, 100, 250 mV s-1), the substrate concentration (2, 20 g L-1) and the oxidation/reduction potential (from -0.8 to +0.8 V). Under the optimal reaction conditions among those tested (NiOOH electrode, pH 14, lignin 20 g L-1, 0.4 V), the electro-oxidative depolymerisation of lignin by electrolysis was performed in a divided cell. The reaction products were identified and quantified by ultra-pressure liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The main products were sinapic acid, vanillin, vanillic acid, and acetovanillone. The obtained preliminary results demonstrated the potential feasibility of this innovative electrochemical route for lignin valorisation for the production of bio-aromatic chemicals. This journal is

Theaflavin-3,3'-digallate (TFDG), a bioactive black tea phenolic, is poorly absorbed in the small intestine, and it has been suggested that gut microbiota metabolism plays a crucial role in its bioactivities. However, information on its metabolic fate and impact on gut microbiota is limited. Here, TFDG was anaerobically fermented in vitro by human fecal microbiota, and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) was used for comparison. Despite the similar flavan-3-ol skeletons, TFDG was more slowly degraded and yielded a distinctively different metabolic profile. The formation of theanaphthoquinone as the main metabolites was unique to TFDG. Additionally, a number of hydroxylated phenylcarboxylic acids were formed with low concentrations, when comparing to EGCG metabolism. Microbiome profiling demonstrated several similarities in gut microbiota modulatory effects, including growth-promoting effects on Bacteroides, Faecalibacterium, Parabacteroides, and Bifidobacterium, and inhibitory effects on Prevotella and Fusobacterium. In conclusion, TFDG and EGCG underwent significantly different microbial metabolic fates, yet their gut microbiota modulatory effects were similar.

The transition towards a bio-based economy increases the demand for wood biomass. The increasing use of wood as raw material for paper, building materials and energy production results in increasing prices. Other types of biomass, e.g. reed released in nature conservation practice, could provide an alternative for the use of wood in e.g. particle boards. Particle board production plants have a relatively small capacity compared to e.g. pulping facilities for paper production. Combined with the high transportation costs of alternative fiber sources, due to low bulk density, the use of locally available raw material for particle board production is economically essential. In several countries wheat straw-based particle board material is currently produced using MDI-glue. Because of the high price of wheat straw in the Netherlands, other raw materials are of interest. Reed is a possible alternative, as large amounts of reed can be made available through nature conservation practice. Currently the value of this reed is negative and burning in nature is no longer allowed. Natuurmonumenten together with DSM, intends to convert the biomass released in nature conservation practice (ca. 175.000 t/y reed, grass, straw and woody biomass) into high quality feedstock for the bioeconomy and to contribute in this way to an enhanced sustainability of The Netherlands. This project investigates the technical and economic feasibility of using reed and a new (partially) bio-based resin in the production of fiber composite boards.

Process streams of agro‐food industries are often large and viscous. In order to fractionate such a stream the viscosity can be reduced by either a high temperature or dilution, the former is not an option in case of temperature sensitive components. Such streams are diluted prior to chromatographic fractionation, resulting in even larger volumes and high energy costs for sub‐sequential water removal. The influence of feed viscosity on the performance of simulated moving bed chromatography has been investigated in a case study of the recovery of a γ‐aminobutyric acid rich fraction from tomato serum. This work addresses the chromatographic system design, evaluates results from a pilot scale operation, and uses these to calculate the productivity and water use at elevated feed concentration. At the two higher feed viscosities (2.5 and 4 mPa·s) water use is lower and productivity higher, compared to the lowest feed viscosity (1 mPa·s). The behavior of the sugars for different feed viscosities can be described well by the model using the ratio of feed to eluent as dilution factor. The behavior of γ‐aminobutyric acid is highly concentration dependent and the recovery could not be accurately predicted.

The production of bio-based asphalt utilizing lignin from amongst others local biorefineries is currently under development in the Netherlands. In this study, life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was applied to investigate the environmental implications of replacing conventional asphalts with lignin-based asphalts. Inventory data for lignin were collected from two Dutch biorefining industries (Avantium and Vertoro). Eleven impact categories were considered, along with a single-score environmental cost indicator. For the comparative assessment, both kraft lignin asphalts and conventional asphalts were used as benchmarks. The effect of a change of allocation method was discussed. Process steam, chemicals (mainly hydrochloric acid or methanol) and electricity were identified as the main environmental hotspots of the two biorefineries. Comparing on the basis of the same steam source, both biorefinery lignins showed lower climate change (up to 45% lower) and environmental cost (up to 60%) than kraft lignin. Top-layer asphalts using biorefinery lignins showed a 35–70% lower climate change impact than conventional asphalts. For base-layer asphalts, 25–50% reduction of climate change was calculated compared to conventional asphalts. On an environmental cost-weighted basis, besides climate change, other relevant environmental impacts are marine aquatic ecotoxicity, human toxicity, eutrophication and acidification. Using mass allocation instead of economic allocation showed that the environmental impact of lignin can increase, decrease or remain unchanged depending on the production system and co-products of lignin.

The reduction of meat consumption is considered an effective way to increase the sustainability of one’s diet. Meat analogues can help consumers to eat less meat and more plant-based foods. It is suggested that meat analogues should mimic the texture and taste of real meat as much as possible. The texture, specifically the fibrous structure of meat, can be re-created from plant-based ingredients in thermo-mechanical processes such as High Moisture Extrusion (HME) or High Temperature Shear Cell (HTSC). Currently, mainly proteins from soy, wheat and to a lesser extent pea are used in meat analogues, which are obtained after intense fractionation processes. However, it is now recognized that new and less processed ingredients have to be incorporated to prevent monocultures and to increase the sustainability of meat analogues. In this dissertation, we aim to explore the potential of faba beans as a new ingredient for fibrous meat analogues and unveil the effect of using less refined ingredients. The latter introduces more starch to the final product.In Chapter 2, we described the suitability of Faba bean Protein Isolate (FPI) as an ingredient in gluten-containing fibrous meat analogues and compared it to Soy Protein Isolate (SPI) and Pea Protein Isolate (PPI). Swelling experiments revealed a universal interaction of gluten and the legume proteins, where the gluten formed a continuous network and exerted a pressure on the legume phase, which prevented it from swelling. Furthermore, we found that gluten formed fibrous structures on its own, while SPI, PPI and FPI did not. We concluded that gluten was responsible for the formation of fibrous structures and the non-gluten protein acted as a filler. A gluten content of 50% (d.b.) was necessary to form fibrous structures, which confirmed that gluten needs to form a continuous network to form a fibrous structure.To increase sustainability of the ingredients, we moved from isolates to concentrates. However, less refined raw ingredients sometimes lack the alleged functional properties for making fibrous food products. A high water holding capacity (WHC) is considered one of the functional properties relevant for fiber formation in the HTSC. In Chapter 3, we therefore studied the WHC of Faba bean Protein Concentrate (FPC), a mildly refined faba bean product. We found that the WHC of FPC was lower than that of Soy Protein Concentrate, but could be increased via a dry heat treatment. The dry heat treatment partially denatured the native protein in FPC and thereby increased the hydrophobicity of the protein. This led to aggregation, a lower protein solubility in water and finally an increased WHC of FPC.Faba beans contain a significant amount of starch. In Chapter 4 we reviewed the literature on the use of starch in meat and meat analogues. We discovered that purified starch is used as a functional ingredient in meat and meat analogues, often in modified form. We called this exogenous starch, because it is added to the recipe. Starch that is endogenously present in the original matrix of less refined or whole crop ingredients is rarely added deliberately, minimizing the reviewable literature findings in this regard. We proposed a new approach in which endogenous starch can be modified ‘in-situ”, using conventional starch modification processes as a route to obtain functional ingredients. The effect of starch on textural properties such as hardness and springiness of fibrous products has been investigated empirically, while deductive studies on the effect of starch on the mechanism of fibre formation are still lacking.This gap in the literature was taken as motivation for the work described in Chapter 5, where we explored the effect of starch on the formation of fibrous structures in the HTSC when mixed with gluten. We found that low amylose content starch (Amioca Starch - AS) disrupted fibre formation due to its inability to form a gel, while intermediate amylose content starch (Maize Starch – MS) and high amylose content starch (Hylon VII) could be applied in the same way as protein isolates. Pre-gelatinizing MS improved its structuring potential and resulted in remarkable textural properties, most notably a large anisotropy of the Young’s modulus that was previously not seen with protein ingredients.Chapters 2, 3 & 5 revealed that the interaction of the ingredients with water played a large role in the formation of fibrous structures. In Chapter 6 we therefore quantified the water content of the protein and the starch phase of doughs at room temperature and gels at high temperatures. The samples were made from air-classified faba bean fractions, but we modelled the water content of the individual starch and protein water phases. For the doughs, data for modelling was extracted from the partial sorption isotherms of doughs containing different amounts of starch, protein and water. The water content of the protein phase in the gels was modelled using the denaturation temperature of legumin. We found that starch takes up less water than protein at room temperature. The often described swelling of starch before initial gelatinization did not increase the water content of the starch. However, upon protein gelation, the starch had absorbed more water, thereby lowering the water content in the protein. We concluded that the water had migrated from the protein to the starch phase after the initial gelatinization of starch but before or during the gelation of protein.The dissertation was concluded with a general discussion of the results in Chapter 7. We reviewed the role of gluten as an agent of the formation of fibrous structures and revealed new insights regarding zein as a possible alternative. We discussed the use of faba beans as novel ingredient, as well as the opportunities and challenges that stem from using less refined ingredients. A list of ingredient requirements for fillers in fibrous structures was presented, along with a list of desirable properties. We highlighted the importance of water distribution in protein-starch blends and suggested thermal pre-treatments as a tool to improve the functionality of ingredients. To round out the dissertation, a new approach in the search for suitable new ingredients for fiber formation was proposed.

Common waste hierarchies propose fixed priorities for food surplus and wastevalorisation (like ‘extraction of food components is more circular than applyingas animal feed’ or ‘applying as animal feed is more circular than applying as energy application’). However, all biomass is made up of very different components such a fiber, protein, starch and often scarce nutrients. The best application depends on the composition of the material. An application that is suitable for one biomass type may be less appropriate for another. Therefore, we propose a dedicated framework that prioritises potential applications based on composition, and efficiency of use and re-use potential. We should also consider that the most circular application may not be the best solution if the market does not exist or if other environmental issues occur.

The nutritional value of seaweed for farm animals is, among other things, determined by the content of nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. This project investigated whether it is possibleto improve the digestibility and thus the accessibility of the seaweed components by means of biorefinery – in this case by mechanic and enzymatic treatment. Furthermore, it was investigated whether it is possible to isolate and separate peptides and amino acids (the building blocks of proteins). Animal studies with broilers were performed by Wageningen Livestock Research to investigate the effect of seaweed, with and without enzymatic treatment, on growth, feed conversion,digestibility and health (not reported here).The project was carried out together with Olmix. Olmix harvests green seaweed Ulva from the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brittany. The harvested seaweeds are pressed by Olmix, after which the liquid fraction is used for the production of a biostimulant (Seamel). In this project it was investigated whether it has added value to use the remaining solid seaweed fraction as an ingredient to animal feed, as such or after processing. The project investigated the use of enzymes and mechanical pretreatment to break down cell wall structures. Enzymes were selected based on chemical structures that occur in the cell wall; enzymes that break down carbohydrates into sugars (carbohydrases) and enzymes that break down proteins into peptides or amino acids (proteases). All the experiments were performed using Ulva that had been pressed once (Ulva Marc 1) and frozen afterwards, which was kindly provided by Olmix.For Ulva Marc 1 mechanical pre-treatment did not have an additional beneficial effect on dry matter and peptide release to the liquid fraction. It is recommended to test the effect of mechanical pre-treatment on fresh seaweed. The cells in fresh seaweed have a higher mechanical strength (turgor)and will be more vulnerable to mechanical disruption.The target dry matter release of >80% (as an indication for digestibility) and peptide release of >80%were not reached using enzymatic treatment (carbohydrases + proteases). Of all tested treatments the protease alcalase (60°C, pH as is) was the most effective (dry matter release ~53% DW, peptiderelease ~58%). A new process is proposed for obtaining an enriched protein fraction, in which the protease treatment is performed on the solid fraction obtained after carbohydrase treatment. This leads to selective release of peptides and a liquid fraction with a peptide content of 45% (N/DW) and apeptide recovery of 52%. The targeted peptide content of 45% (N/DW) can be reached in this manner.To further increase digestibility and peptide release, it is necessary to use enzymes that are even better able to break down the complex structures in seaweed cell walls. The enzymes used in this project come from organisms that can break down complex carbohydrates in land plants, such as cellulose and hemicellulose. However, seaweed contains other types of carbohydrates that require other types of enzymes that are not yet on the market. Such enzymes do exist and are present in fungi that naturally grow on seaweed: seaweed biomass is broken down in the marine environment.Together with NIOZ and Westerdijk Institute, a new project was started in 2022, aiming at isolating specific enzymes from marine fungi that are able to break down the cell walls in seaweeds. This project is part of the NWO program “From Sea to Society”.

Kraft lignin was treated with subcritical water at moderate temperatures (120–220 °C) in different gas atmospheres, with the goal of optimizing its depolymerization under mild conditions. Lignin depolymerization was observed and compared using different homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts in both nitrogen and carbon dioxide atmospheres. The most important treatment parameters for maximum lignin depolymerization and the highest yields of phenolic and other aromatic monomers were optimized. The influence of the process temperature, pressure, and time in both gas atmospheres was defined and optimized for maximum liberation of monomers into the aqueous phase. The yields of total phenols and other aromatics in the nitrogen atmosphere were the highest at 150 °C, whereas treatment in the carbon dioxide atmosphere required higher temperatures (200 °C) for a comparable efficiency. The effects of phenol addition as a capping agent in lignin depolymerization were observed and defined for both gas atmospheres. Phenol addition caused a remarkable increase in the total phenols content in the aqueous phase; however, it did not significantly affect the contents of other aromatics. The antioxidant properties of lignin hydrolysates obtained at different temperatures in different gas atmospheres were compared, correlated with the total phenols contents, and discussed, showing the promising potential of lignin hydrolysates obtained under mild subcritical water conditions.