Agricultural Engineering and Processing

Latest Innovations

Processing of Lipid-producing Biomass for High Yields of Oils and Cellulosic Sugars for Biofuel Production

  Dr. Singh from the University of Illinois has developed a hydrothermal pretreatment method which increases the efficiency of oil extraction from high oil feedstocks. ...

  Dr. Singh from the University of Illinois has developed a hydrothermal pretreatment method which increases the efficiency of oil extraction from high oil feedstocks.  New research has engineered high energy crops that produce high concentrations of vegetable oil.  Novel pretreatment methods are required in order to make efficient use of these high energy crops for biofuel production and oil extraction.

  Typical commercial pretreatment for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) bioethanol production include addition of acid or alkali to prepare the feedstock for saccharification.  However, these chemical pretreatments can degrade the oil content (saponification) and detract from the economic efficiency of the production pipeline.  This pretreatment method improves the yields of oil from corn germ meal by four times and alleviates the need for additional chemicals in the pretreatment steps.

Cell Lines and Methods for African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) Propagation and Replication

Dr. Frederico Zuckermann has developed an alternative to primary cells for African Swine Fever virus (ASFV) replication. The continuously growing, growth factor dependent...

Dr. Frederico Zuckermann has developed an alternative to primary cells for African Swine Fever virus (ASFV) replication. The continuously growing, growth factor dependent ZMAC-4 porcine macrophage cell line is susceptible to infection with eight different field isolates of ASFV. The virus replicates to high titers and does not require adaptation steps to the cell line. Thus, there are no genomic changes in the virus and growth is not hampered. Better understanding of the virus interaction will provide information on mechanisms of virus immune evasion and pathogenesis, thus underpinning vaccine development.


Raquel Portugal , Lynnette C. Goatley , Robert Husmann , Federico A. Zuckermann & Linda K. Dixon (2020) A porcine macrophage cell line that supports high levels of replication of OURT88/3, an attenuated strain of African swine fever virus, Emerging Microbes &Infections, 9:1, 1245-1253
 


Infection of ZMAC-4 cells with ASFV. Virus in green. DNA in blue. 

Free Fatty Acid Separation and Recovery using Resin

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Researchers have developed a method for free fatty acid (FFA) separation and recovery in the deacidification process of vegetable crude oils. When free fatty acids are present, in oil processing, they can produce alkali soaps which pollute the final product. Using a particular resin to recover FFAs, this method can reduce FFA saturation to under 1%. Additionally, the resin can be reused to adsorb FFAs through several cycles, and the FFAs can then be recovered and used to create value-added products. 

 

An engineered yeast strain to produce 2,3-butanediol through fermentation for the alleviation of drought stress of plants

Scientists at the University of Illinois have engineered a unique strain of yeast that efficiently produces 2,3-butanediol through a fermentation process. The resulting...

Scientists at the University of Illinois have engineered a unique strain of yeast that efficiently produces 2,3-butanediol through a fermentation process. The resulting product, once heat-treated, can be used directly on crops to promote drought tolerance. This strain is unlike existing microorganisms currently used for bio-synthesis of 2,3-butanediol which are all pathogenic bacteria. This strain is also more efficient at producing 2,3-butanediol than other yeast strains that have been developed with minimal ethanol, acetoin, and glycerol by-products.

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