Soy meal, a coproduct of the soy oil-based biodiesel industry, has up to 50 wt% protein content. The main aim of this work was to develop value-added application for soy meal by blending with biopolymers. The chosen biopolymers were poly(butylenes adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA). This study is divided into two parts: the first part explained the plasticization of soy meal and modification of soy meal by denaturation. Characterization by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy confirmed that the soy meal was plasticized and denatured. This part also discussed the fabrication, testing and characterization of blends of PBAT/soy meal (SM), PBAT/plasticized soy meal (PSM) and PBAT/modified plasticized soy meal (mPSM). The elongation at break of the bioblend was found to increase after plasticization of soy meal, and improved furthermore after denaturation while the tensile strength remained the same. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed that the blends PBAT/mPSM had smoother surfaces and better internal structures than the other two. The second part of the study investigated the properties of mPSM blended with PBAT and PLA at varying ratios. The results revealed that with an increase in PLA content, the tensile strength improved, but the elongation of the blend reduced. No phase separations between PBAT and PLA were observed in the SEM pictures of the ternary blends, indicating limited miscibility between PBAT and PLA. / Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) (Project Title: “New Value-Added Biomaterials from Waste Streams of Biodiesel Industries and Polylactides (PLA)”; Project NO.: SR9223 TF#049549), Hannam Soybean Utilization Fund (HSUF)

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Grain Science and Industry / Praveen V. Vadlani / Soy meal (SM) is the main protein source for monogastric animals. Anti-nutritional factors in SM limited its usage for young monogastric animals. Aspergillus was investigated to degrade these factors and to enhance its nutritional value via solid state fermentation. Galacto-oligosaccharides were totally degraded from the initial 9.48 mmol/100 g, and trypsin inhibitor decreased from 10.7 TIU/mg to a non-detectable level after 36 hr fermentation. Structural polysaccharides decreased by 59% (w/w) and the degree of hydrolysis of SM protein increased from 0.9% to 7% (w/w) through the 7 d fermentation. Fermentation also modified nutritional factors. Protein content increased from 50.47% (w/w) to 58.93% (w/w) after 36 hr fermentation. Amino acid profile was significantly enhanced. Two - stage temperature-induced fermentation protocol was developed to increase the degradation rate of phytic acid by A. oryzae (ATCC 9362) and by A. ficuum (ATCC 66876). The first stage maximized phytase production with fermentation parameters obtained by central composite design. The second stage achieved maximum enzymatic degradation with parameters obtained by studying the phytase temperature characteristics. While using A. oryzae, 57% of phytic acid in SM was degraded by the two stage protocol compared to 39% degradation from single stage fermentation. For A. ficuum, the two-stage temperature fermentation protocol achieved a 98% degradation level of phytic acid degradation compared with the single stage process. Two-stage temperature-induced co-fermentation of A. oryzae and A. ficuum was investigated to simultaneously degrade phytic acid and soy protein with high efficiency. Co-fermentation of A. oryzae and A. ficuum resulted in higher phytic acid degradation than A. oryzae fermentation and superior protein hydrolysis compared to A. ficuum fermentation. Sterilization distorted the results of fermentation effect on soy allergens and soy protein degradation. Virginiamycin is a kind of bacterisin. It was added to A. oryzae solid state fermentation, to exclude the necessity of SM sterilization. Nonsterile, solid state fermentation using A. oryzae and virginiamycin showed the complete degradation of α and α’ subunits of β-conglycinin and decreased immunoreactivity of soy protein. The modified SM after microbial bioprocessing created an innovative product with enhanced characteristics with potential wider applications for feed industry.

L to D isomerization of amino acids in a commercially prepared alkali-treated food-grade soy isolate was investigated. A soy flour product was also investigated as a control which had not been alkali treated. Methionine and valine collected from two soy flour and two soy isolate samples were coupled with L-leucine-N-carboxyanhydride. If both D- and L-forms were present this would produce diastereomeric dipeptide derivatives. The derivatives were separated by ion-exchange chromatography using a TSM Amino Acid Analyzer. Comparison of the sample methionine and valine dipeptide peaks to standard dipeptide peaks revealed the presence of L-valine, L-methionine and D-methionine in both soy flour and soy isolate samples. Methionine was substantially isomerized in both products. D-valine was not observed in either soy flour or soy isolate samples. Thus, isomerization of methionine appeared to occur at a faster rate than valine. Acid hydrolysis, toasting of soy meal, and alkaline treatment are all conditions which may be responsible for the isomerization of methionine. / Master of Science

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-17T18:39:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4412.pdf: 1461979 bytes, checksum: 8e5362be1a8593a0acafb4ba8014c92e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-08-29 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / The searching for new fuel sources has motivated new studies which aim to produce the second-generation of ethanol, also called 2G . However, the costs to produce that fuel are still high because the sugarcane bagasse is not considered a residue any more, but a subproduct that can generate income to the industries that produce it, being a vapor energy form to the company or an electricity source to sell. The use of the sugar cane bagasse to produce 2G ethanol requires a significant amount of lignocellulolitic enzymes. The main aim of this study is to reduce the cost of the production of these enzymes by means of studying isolated lignocellulolitic bacterium from Stenochironomus larva. The goal is to evaluate its productivity in several submersed fermentation processes and surface fermentations. Submersed fermentations were conducted using sugar cane bagasse and soy meal as substrates and different concentrations were applied in culture media. A total of 11 isolated enzymes were evaluated initially, and re-selected at each new stage of the process. The enzyme cultures were conducted by the reduction sugars quantification and the results enabled us to demonstrate that the bacteria Sphingobium and Pseudomonas were the most productive when compared to the others. Our results have highlighted that those bacteria were strongly influenced by the addition of different organic nitrogen sources in the fermentation culture. From the introduction of those components, the enzyme activity became higher and this fact was corroborated by the index of 4.36 U/mg protein for Xilanase, 0.12 U/mg protein for FPase and 2.31 U/mg protein for CMCase. / A busca por novas fontes de combustíveis tem feito com que diferentes estudos surgissem com o objetivo de produzir etanol de segunda geração, conhecido como etanol 2G. Os custos para se produzir esse combustível ainda são elevados, uma vez que o bagaço de cana não é mais considerado um resíduo, mas sim um subproduto que gera renda para a usina que o detém, seja na forma de energia (vapor) ou na venda de energia elétrica. Para se conseguir utilizar o bagaço de cana a fim de produzir etanol 2G é necessário uma grande quantidade de enzimas lignocelulolíticas. Visando a redução do custo de produção dessas enzimas para que o processo de produção do etanol 2G se torne viável, o presente trabalho tem o objetivo de estudar diferentes isolados bacterianos lignocelulolíticos de larvas de Stenochironomus, pretendendo avaliar seu rendimento na produção dessas enzimas. Para se realizar essa avaliação, fermentações submersas foram realizadas utilizando o bagaço de cana e farelo de soja como substrato indutor e diferentes concentrações de meios de cultivo. Um total de 11 isolados foram avaliados inicialmente e selecionados a cada nova etapa. A partir dos resultados dos ensaios enzimáticos, que foi realizado através da quantificação de açúcares redutores, foi demonstrado que as bactérias Sphingobium e Pseudomonas se destacaram na produção dessas enzimas em relação às demais bactérias inicialmente testadas. Os resultados deste trabalho evidenciou que essas bactérias foram fortemente influenciadas pela adição de diferentes fontes de nitrogênio orgânico em seu meio de cultivo para as fermentações, o que gerou uma maior atividade enzimática obtendo índices de 4,36 U/mg de proteína para Xilanase, 0,12 U/mg de proteína para FPAse e 2,31 U/mg de proteína para CMCase, a partir da introdução desses componentes aos meios.