YEAR 2013

 

Total budget 2013 (01/07/2013- 15/12/2013): 108572.64 lei

 

Objective O1 – Determination of physical–chemical and microbiological characteristics of stone fruit (plum/ apricot) processing wastes and berry press residues as carriers in SSF

 

Results

According to the results obtained from the physico-chemical and microbiological tests it can be concluded that among the 8 agro-food wastes analyzed

-including kernels and pulp/peels of stone-fruits (residues from plum (Prunus domestica L.) brandy and juice production; apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) peels, and kernels) and berry press residues (sea buckthorn- Hippophae rhamnoides L., ssp. Carpatica; Sambucus nigra and Sambucus ebulus- five of them (sea buckthorn-, Sambucus nigra- and Sambucus ebulus- berry press residues, by-products from plum brandy production (pulp/peel) and apricot peels) showed great potential to be used as support-substrates in SSF processes. The reuse of such inexpensive agro-industrial residues as immobilization carrier in SSF provides an alternative avenue and value-addition to these under- or non-utilized by-products. The kernels, as by-products of canning ad beverages industry, could be successfully used as substrate in SSF processes after supplementation of fermentation media with different nutrients (especially with sugars as carbon sources). 

 

 

Objective O2 – Evaluation of phenolic compounds accumulation in solid- state fermented stone fruit processing wastes and berry press residues) after their fermentation with Aspergillus and Rhizopus strains

 

Results regarding to:  Optimization of extraction procedure for phenolics from SS fermented residues (different temperatures, time, solvents) – as the first activity of Objective 2.

The effect of solvents (60% ethanol, 70% ethanol, 80% ethanol; 60% methanol, 70% methanol, 80% methanol; and methanol 80% + 1%HCl), temperatures (30◦C , 40 ◦C and 50◦C),  time (at time intervals of 20, 30, 40 minutes at 40 ◦C) during the extraction of phenolic compouns by ultrasonic extraction method was studied for the development of better extraction and recovery method. The optimal conditions for maximum phenolic yields were: extraction with hydrochloric acid: methanol: water in the ratio 1: 80: 19) in an ultrasonic bath for 30 min at 40 °C.

 

Results regarding to:  Determination of total phenolic contents using colorimetric method. HPLC-MS analysis of phenolic compounds- as  activities of Objective 2.

 

In the first part of the research project, the berry press residues of two Sambucus species were used as natural substrates for the solid-state fermentation. The fungal strain of Aspergillus niger (ATCC-6275; LGC Standards GmbH, Wesel Germany) was selected as a suitable fungus for solid-state fermentation due to its potential for higher enzyme production.  

Total Phenolics. During the first 3 days of growth, both Sambucus species showed a similar trend, with decreased total phenolics content in the first 24 ours of fermentation, with subsequent increase until the maximum yield (Day 3). The phenolics increased by 18.82% for S. ebulus, and by 11.11% for S. nigra from initial values of 2.71 mg/g DW and 4.05 mg/g DW of unfermented pomaces to 3.22 mg/g DW and 4.50 mg/g DW of fermented pomaces.

The proportion of the individual phenolics differed between species. Cyanidin 3-sambubioside-5-glucoside was the major phenolic compound in both residues of Sambucus species. Quercetin-based glycosides were the major flavonol glycosides in both processed Sambucus residues. The identified flavonols were mostly rutinosides: from 61% (non-fermented) to 71% (the 3rd day of fermentation) of total flavonol glycosides of S. nigra residues and from 56% (non-fermented) to 58% (the 1st day of fermentation) of total flavonol glycosides of S. ebulus residues, while the remainders were conjugated to glucose.

 

Resulted publications:

 

1. Francisc Vasile Dulf, Ioan Oroian, Dan Cristian Vodnar, Carmen Socaciu and Adela Pintea, Lipid Classes and Fatty Acid Regiodistribution in Triacylglycerols of Seed Oils of Two Sambucus Species (S. nigra L. and S. ebulus L.), Molecules 2013, 18(10), 11768-11782; doi:10.3390/molecules181011768 (impact factor 2.428)

 

2. Eva-Henrietta Dulf, Clement Festila, Cristina-Ioana Muresan, Roxana Both and Francisc-Vasile Dulf, FRACTIONAL ORDER MODEL OF THE 13C ISOTOPE SEPARATION COLUMN, Proceedings of the 21th Annual International Conference on Composites/ Nanoengineering, ICCE-21, Spain, July 21-27, 2013

 

3. Eva-Henrietta Dulf, Cristina-Ioana Muresan and Francisc-Vasile Dulf, Simulation of the Cryogenic Distillation Column for 13C Separation, under review for World Journal of Engineering