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Production and Purification of Microbial Dyes and Pigments

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A special issue of Fermentation (ISSN 2311-5637). This special issue belongs to the section "Microbial Metabolism, Physiology & Genetics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2024) | Viewed by 4889

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Mohamed Koubaa

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Guest Editor

Laboratoire Transformations Intégrées de la Matière Renouvelable (UTC/ESCOM, EA 4297 TIMR), Ecole Supérieure de Chimie Organique et Minérale, 1 Allée du réseau Jean-Marie Buckmaster, 60200 Compiègne, France
Interests: fermentation; emerging processing technologies; valorization of by-products and agro-industrial waste bioprocess; antioxidant bioactive compounds
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The biosynthesis of dyes and pigments for food and textile applications has attracted increased interest in recent years. Nature produces many bio-dyes from a variety of resources, including plants, animals, and microorganisms, which are possible alternatives to currently used synthetic dyes and pigments, and which are almost exclusively made from non-renewable resources such as fossil oil. Practically, the fermentation of microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria could be a valuable source for the production of dyes and pigments. Microorganisms produce a wide variety of these compounds, such as carotenoids, flavonoids, quinones, and rubramines, and fermentation has higher pigment yields and lower residues compared to the use of plants and animals. Thus, the biosynthesis of dyes and pigments via fermentation processes has attracted increased attention in recent years. Technically speaking, biosynthesized pigments can serve as major chromophores for further chemical modifications, which could lead to dyes with a broad color spectrum. Furthermore, some natural dyes and pigments have shown remarkable antibacterial activity in addition to providing vivid colors, which could serve as functional dyes in the production of colored antimicrobial textiles and surfaces.

In view of the above potential and developments, the journal Fermentation is inviting authors to submit unpublished original contributions, critical review articles, and short communications for consideration in the Special Issue “Production and Purification of Microbial Dyes and Pigments”. The topics covered in this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

Identification of microorganisms producing dyes and pigments;
Microbial transformations for the biosynthesis of dyes and pigments;
Upstream and downstream processes for the microbial production of dyes and pigments (fermentation, extraction, purification, drying, etc.);
Applications of microbial dyes and pigments.

Dr. Mohamed Koubaa
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fermentation is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

microbial dyes and pigments
fermentation
low-cost substrate transformation
extraction
purification

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 1534 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Naturally Colored Ice Creams Enriched with C-Phycocyanin and Spirulina Residual Biomass: Development of a Fermented, Antioxidant, Tasty and Stable Food Product

by Monize Bürck, Camilly Fratelli, Marcelo Assis and Anna Rafaela Cavalcante Braga

Fermentation 2024, 10(6), 304; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation10060304 - 7 Jun 2024

Viewed by 303

Abstract

Naturally colored fermented foods currently represent the trend toward a global demand for healthier products. This work produced naturally blue and green ice creams using C-phycocyanin (C-PC) and spirulina residual biomass (RB). The ice creams were assessed based on microbiological analysis, color stability over 6 months, antioxidant activity before and after in vitro digestion, and sensory evaluation. Considering the microorganisms that must be analyzed in accordance with Brazilian legislation, no growth was detected during the storage period. L*, a*, and b* were maintained according to the expected colors. The blue color was intoned over the shelf life (SC-PC *b −9.46 to −19.44 and MC-PC *b from −9.87 to −18.04). The antioxidant activity of the fermented ice creams SC-PC and SRB increased from 15.4 to 41.3 and from 15.3 to 38.0 µM TE/g, respectively, after bioaccessibility analysis. The C-PC ice cream’s appearance received the highest rating, with 70.26% of volunteers expressing a strong preference, highlighting its attractiveness. However, there were no significant differences compared to control samples in the global acceptance. The RB ice cream presented lower results for flavor but moderate acceptance. Thus, these fermented ice creams presented color stability over 6 months, and their antioxidant activity increased after in vitro digestion, highlighting their biological potential. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Production and Purification of Microbial Dyes and Pigments)

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16 pages, 3944 KiB

Open AccessArticle

High-Level Bio-Based Production of Coproporphyrin in Escherichia coli

by Bahareh Arab, Adam Westbrook, Murray Moo-Young, Yilan Liu and C. Perry Chou

Fermentation 2024, 10(5), 250; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation10050250 - 11 May 2024

Viewed by 544

Abstract

This study reports on the development of effective strain engineering strategies for the high-level bio-based production of coproporphyrin (CP), a porphyrin pigment compound with various applications, using Escherichia coli as a production host. Our approach involves heterologous implementation of the Shemin/C4 pathway in an E. coli host strain with an enlarged intracellular pool of succinyl-CoA. To regulate the expression of the key pathway genes, including hemA/B/D/E/Y, we employed a plasmid system comprising two operons regulated by strong trc and gracmax promoters, respectively. Using the engineered E. coli strains for bioreactor cultivation under aerobic conditions with glycerol as the carbon source, we produced up to 353 mg/L CP with minimal byproduct formation. The overproduced CP was secreted extracellularly, posing minimal physiological toxicity and impact on the producing cells. To date, targeted bio-based production of CP by E. coli has yet to be reported. In addition to the demonstration of high-level bio-based production of CP, our study underscores the importance of identifying key enzymatic reactions limiting the overall metabolite production for developing differential expression strategies for pathway modulation and even optimization. This investigation paves the way for the development of effective metabolic engineering strategies based on targeted manipulation of key enzymes to customize engineered strains for effective large-scale bio-based production. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Production and Purification of Microbial Dyes and Pigments)

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20 pages, 4736 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhanced β-Carotene Production in Mycolicibacterium neoaurum Ac-501/22 by Combining Mutagenesis, Strain Selection, and Subsequent Fermentation Optimization

by Vera Yaderets, Nataliya Karpova, Elena Glagoleva, Alexandra Shibaeva and Vakhtang Dzhavakhiya

Fermentation 2023, 9(12), 1007; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation9121007 - 6 Dec 2023

Viewed by 1163

Abstract

A continuing interest of scientists regarding the development of new β-carotene production technologies is due to the high biological activity of this compound and its wide application range. Bacteria are considered among the possible β-carotene producers convenient for industrial use. The purpose of this study was to develop a Mycolicibacterium neoaurum strain with an enhanced ability for β-carotene production and to optimize the fermentation conditions to improve the final yield of the target compound. Using chemical mutagenesis with N-nitroso-N-methylurea along with further strain selection, a M. neoaurum strain Ac-501/22, whose productivity was 2.7-fold higher than that of the parental strain Ac-501, was developed. The effect of nitrogen and carbon sources as well as cultivation conditions on the growth of M. neoaurum Ac-501/22 and β-carotene production were studied to select the optimal fermentation regime. Due to an increase in the temperature of cultivation from 30 to 35 °C, replacement of glucose with glycerin (20.0 g/L) and degreased soybean flour with powdered milk (10.0 g/L), and increase in the urea content from 0.5 to 1.0 g/L, the level of β-carotene production was improved to 183.0 mg/kg that was 35% higher than in the control. Further strain fermentation in a 3 L bioreactor using an optimized medium with the pH level maintained at 7.0–7.2 and 50% pO₂ provided the maximum output of the target compound (262.4 mg/kg of dry biomass) that confirmed the prospects of the developed strain as an industrial β-carotene producer. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Production and Purification of Microbial Dyes and Pigments)

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Review

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20 pages, 2415 KiB

Open AccessReview

Lutein from Microalgae: An Industrial Perspective of Its Production, Downstream Processing, and Market

by Hissashi Iwamoto, Carlos Ricardo Soccol, Denisse Tatiana Molina-Aulestia, Juliana Cardoso, Gilberto Vinícius de Melo Pereira, Luciana Porto de Souza Vandenberghe, Maria Clara Manzoki, Ranga Rao Ambati, Gokare Aswathanarayana Ravishankar and Júlio Cesar de Carvalho

Fermentation 2024, 10(2), 106; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation10020106 - 11 Feb 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2374

Abstract

Lutein, a yellow xanthophyll carotenoid, is increasingly recognized for its nutraceutical benefits, particularly in protecting the retina’s macula from age-related degeneration. Microalgae are a promising source of lutein, which can be a primary product or a coproduct in biorefineries. Certain microalgae exhibit lutein levels (up to 1.7%) surpassing those of common dietary sources like kale, spinach, and egg yolk (approximately 0.7–0.9%). Predominantly associated with photosystem II’s light-harvesting complex, lutein is crucial in photosynthesis and cellular defense. However, being quantitatively minor among cellular constituents, lutein necessitates specialized processing for efficient extraction. Although ubiquitous in microalgae, it is not as easily inducible as β-carotene and astaxanthin in Dunaliella salina and Haematococcus pluvialis, respectively. Currently, microalgal lutein production predominantly occurs at the bench scale, presenting challenges in scaling up. Factors like culture medium significantly influence biomass and lutein yields in industrial production, while downstream processing requires cost-effective, food-grade solvent extraction techniques. This review delves into contemporary methods and innovative progress in microalgal lutein production, emphasizing industrial-scale processes from biomass cultivation to final product formulation. A conceptual industrial process proposed in this review shows that two 10 m³ photobioreactors could produce 108 kg dry mass for Chlorella minutissima, which can be processed into approximately 616 g of lutein extract, or over 6000 capsules of finished nutraceutical daily. Despite lutein production via microalgae being in nascent stages at large scales, existing research provides a solid foundation for well-informed scale-up endeavors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Production and Purification of Microbial Dyes and Pigments)

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