The Sufri variety of date is widely cultivated in Saudi Arabia, where it 'produced large quantities of dates. The high quality dates are consumed fresh, dried or preserved, the surplus and second quality dates may be damaged by improper harvesting, handling, transporting and processing. The Sufri variety of date is one of moderate quality and there is a surplus in local markets for processing into overflows to be used as "a base" for the food industry. The present work was conducted to increase soluble solids, including sugars, in the overflows and to maintain the quality of the underflows; chemical analysis of both the overflows and the underflows revealed that Sufri date contains proteins/ amino acids and pectin in small quantities, which can be utilised as byproducts. Physical treatment involved maceration with different ratios (date/water) at mild temperatures (30-60°C) for different times (10- 30 min). Over this range the increase in soluble solids in the overflow was at a minimum but the underflow retained its quality and softening of date tissues was achieved. Different extraction ratios indicated that a lower ratio produced a low overflow which was turbid, but that the higher ratios produced overflows which were dilute. Serial extractions with the same ratio in the initial extraction was not practical. In enzymic treatment, pectolytic enzymes were incubated with date underflows at different concentrations, temperatures for various incubation times. Overflows increased significantly over a short time and at low temperatures (30 min and 30°C) indicating the effectiveness of pectolytic enzymes in releasing more of the overflows, and sugars were increased in the overflows as an indication of the effect of these enzymes on date cell walls. Pure pectolytic enzymes were investigated and it was found that specificity was very important for selection of suitable pectolytic enzymes. It is concluded that the Sufri variety of date is a good source of reducing sugars, and its by-products have a promising future.

BACKGROUND:Sweet sorghum is a domesticated grass containing a sugar-rich juice that can be readily utilized for ethanol production. Most of the sugar is stored inside the cells of the stalk tissue and can be difficult to release, a necessary step before conventional fermentation. While this crop holds much promise as an arid land sugar source for biofuel production, a number of challenges must be overcome. One lies in the inherent labile nature of the sugars in the stalks leading to a short usable storage time. Also, collection of sugars from the sweet sorghum stalks is usually accomplished by mechanical squeezing, but generally does not collect all of the available sugars.RESULTS:In this paper, we present two methods that address these challenges for utilization of sweet sorghum for biofuel production. The first method demonstrates a means to store sweet sorghum stalks in the field under semi-arid conditions. The second provides an efficient water extraction method that can collect as much of the available sugar as feasible. Operating parameters investigated include temperature, stalk size, and solid-liquid ratio that impact both the rate of sugar release and the maximal amount recovered with a goal of low water use. The most desirable conditions include 30degreesC, 0.6 ratio of solid to liquid (w/w), which collects 90 % of the available sugar. Variations in extraction methods did not alter the efficiency of the eventual ethanol fermentation.CONCLUSIONS:The water extraction method has the potential to be used for sugar extraction from both fresh sweet sorghum stalks and dried ones. When combined with current sugar extraction methods, the overall ethanol production efficiency would increase compared to current field practices.

Cette thèse de doctorat porte sur la valorisation du déchet solide issu de la préparation de la mélasse de caroube libanaise pour la production de bioénergie et de molécules à valeur ajoutée. L’analyse de la composition de ce déchet a montré qu’il contient 45 % (g/g) de sucres, substrats exploitables pour la fermentation alcoolique ou lactique, la production de biohydrogène, ou comme source de carbone pour la croissance d’une algue dans un procédé de phycoremédiation (traitement des eaux par les algues) pour l’élimination de micropolluants pharmaceutiques. Les résultats obtenus ont montré que la fermentation alcoolique en phase liquide à partir d’extraits de déchet de caroube peut conduire à des rendements élevés en bioéthanol sous réserve d’enrichir le milieu de culture par les éléments nécessaires pour la croissance de la levure Saccharomyces cerevisiae (en particulier l’azote), tandis qu’il est possible de produire directement le bioéthanol sur le déchet par fermentation en milieu solide sous réserve de contrôler précisément l’humidité. Nous avons également démontré que la fermentation lactique par immobilisation de Lactobacillus rhamnosus sur des billes d’alginate constitue une alternative possible au bioéthanol pour les sucres extraits du déchet. Cependant, un enrichissement du milieu de culture, ainsi que l’utilisation d’une invertase en prétraitement sont nécessaires afin de maximiser le rendement et la productivité de l’acide lactique. L’immobilisation des microorganismes a permis de réutiliser les mêmes billes d’alginate au cours de cinq cycles successifs de production. Une autre alternative potentielle aux voies précédentes est la fermentation sombre pour la production de biohydrogène directement à partir du déchet. Si des rendements intéressants ont été atteints, il faut noter que comme précédemment dans le cas de la fermentation solide du déchet, une forte dépendance aux conditions initiales de broyage a été mise en évidence ; de plus, à la carence en azote qui obligeait à supplémenter les milieux en fermentation en phase liquide s’ajoutent des besoins en fer. Enfin, l’utilisation du déchet comme substrat carboné dans un procédé de phycoremédiation avec l’algue Ankistrodesmus braunii a montré que l’élimination de 90% du diclofénac initial pouvait être atteinte en conditions de mixotrophie, même si seulement un tiers du diclofénac éliminé est effectivement métabolisé par l’algue. / This PhD thesis deals with the valorization of the solid waste generated by the Lebanese carob molasse process with the aim to produce bioenergy or high added-value platform molecules. The chemical analysis of this waste has highlighted that it contains 45% (w/w) sugars, which can be used as a substrate for alcoholic or lactic fermentation, the production of biohydrogen by dark fermentation, or as a carbon source for the growth of microalgae in a phycoremediation process (water treatment process based on algae/microalgae) for the removal of pharmaceutical micropollutants. Experimental results have shown that high ethanol yield and productivity could be achieved through alcoholic fermentation in the liquid phase using extracts from carob waste as the substrate, provided the culture medium was enriched by complementary nutrients (especially a nitro-gen source) to enhance the growth of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae; in parallel, the direct production of ethanol from the solid waste based on solid-state fermentation was also proved to be efficient, provided humidity was accurately controlled. In addition, lactic fermentation per-formed with immobilized Lactobacillus rhamnosus on alginate beads was shown to constitute a potential alternative to bioethanol for the extracts from carob waste. An enriched culture medium was, however, necessary, together with the use of an invertase enzyme as a pretreatment so as to maximize the yield and the productivity of lactic acid. Using microorganism immobilization lead to the opportunity to recycle at least five times alginate beads in successive culture cycles. Another potential alternative to the above-mentioned valorization pathways was proved to lie in the dark fermentation process for biohydrogen production, directly using the solid waste. While attractive yields were reached, a strong dependence on the particle size from grinding pretreatment was emphasized, as in solid-state fermentation; moreover, iron supplementation in the culture medium was compulsory, in addition to nitrogen supplementation already described when fermentation was carried out in the liquid phase. Finally, when the carob waste was used as a substrate for the growth of the algae Ankistrodesmus braunii in a phycoremediation process, a removal yield of the initial diclofenac content about 90% could be reached under mixotrophic conditions, even though only one third of the diclofenac removed was effectively metabolized.