The functional ingredient curcumin has a variety of biological and pharmacological actions, such as anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-virus, anti-oxidant, and anti-HIV properties coupled with low toxicity. However, curcumin possesses low bioavailability due to its poor solubility in water. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of different lipid-based formulations of curcumin on in vitro solubilization and bioaccessibility. Oils representing LCT, MCT, LCT:SCT mix and SCT were used to prepare O/W (nano)emulsions with droplet sizes as low as 174 nm. An in vitro digestion model simulating the small intestine milieu in the fasted and fed state was used to characterize rate, extent, and particle size associated with emulsion digestion. Rate and extent were oil dependent, but not particle size. SCT emulsions digested at the fastest initial rate, but MCT emulsions were digested to the largest extent. Bioaccessibility, a precursor to eventual bioavailability, was determined after digestion using a curcumin:lipid content dependent and independent method. MCT produced the highest bioaccessibility of curcumin for each method. Nanoemulsion digestion and bioaccessibility results were compared to conventional emulsions because an appropriate comparison was needed to determine the merits of the nanoemulsion delivery system. There was no significant difference in particle size and bioaccessibility between the conventional and nanoemulsions.

In this project, separation of trypsin digested transferrin (Tf) has been studied, using a RP HPLC- UV system equipped with a C18 column. 0.1% TFA/MQ-water and 90% MeOH were used as mobile phase A and mobile phase B, respectively. For economic reasons, the protein cytochrome c (cyt-C) was used to optimize the digestion procedure and LC system, before analysis of Tf. Four digestion methods were applied for analyzing cyt-C and Tf. The first method was digestion with no denaturing, reducing or alkylating agent. The other digestion methods used urea or heating as a denaturing agent, and lastly dithiothreitol (DTT) and iodoacetamide (IAA) as reducing and alkylating agent, respectively. The results from HPLC-UV showed that a gradient elution with a high concentration of organic solvent is favorable for the separation of cyt-C peptides. MALDI-MS was used to identify peptides, and the outcomes showed that denaturation by heat before digestion gave the best results. / I detta projekt har separation av trypsin-klyvt transferrin (Tf) studerats, med användning av ett RP HPLC-UV system, som bestod av en C18 kolonn. 0,1% TFA/MQ-vatten och 90% MeOH användes som mobilfas A respektive mobilfas B. Av ekonomiska skäl användes proteinet cytokrom c (cyt-C) före analys av Tf för att optimera klyvningsprocessen och LC systemet. Fyra klyvningsmetoder studerades för analysering av cyt-C och Tf. Den första metoden innehöll inget denaturerande, reducerande eller alkylerande medel. De andra klyvningsmetoderna innehöll urea eller värme som denaturerande medel, och slutligen ditiotreitol (DTT) och jodacetamid (IAA) som reducerande respektive alkylerande medel. Resultaten från HPLC-UV visade att en gradienteluering med en hög koncentration av den organiska lösningen är gynnsam för separationen av peptiderna från cyt-C. MALDI-MS användes för att identifiera peptiderna, och resultaten visade att denaturering med värme före klyvning gav bäst resultat.

The increased demand for advanced sludge stabilization in wastewater treatment facilities over the past decade has led to the implementation of various pretreatment techniques prior to anaerobic digestion. In an attempt to reduce sludge volumes and improve sludge conditioning properties, the use of thermal hydrolysis process before anaerobic digestion has been adopted with an increase in solids destruction, COD removal, and methane gas. In this study, the evaluation of thermal hydrolysis process as a viable pretreatment strategy to anaerobic digestion has been conducted in order to assess its capacity for solids solubilization. Solubilization experiments were conducted at temperatures ranging from 130 to 170℃ and reaction times between 10 and 60 min. Anaerobic biogas production by thermally pre-treated sludge was carried out through a mesophilic anaerobic digester. The results showed that solids solubilization increased with increases in temperature and time, while temperatures above 160℃ for 30 min strongly affected the sludge characteristics. Ammonia production via deamination by thermal hydrolysis was less significant than protein solubilization at a temperature of 170℃. Both protein and carbohydrate solubilization were more dependent on temperature than reaction time. The enhancement of the biogas production was achieved with increases in temperature as pretreatment of 170℃ yielded 20% more biogas than at 130℃. However, it seems the enhancement was linked to the initial biodegradability of the sludge. / Master of Science

Yes / Positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) was used to visualise the flow patterns established by mixing in two laboratory-scale anaerobic digesters fitted with mechanical mixing or gas mixing apparatus. PEPT allows the visualisation of flow patterns within a digester without necessitating the use of a transparent synthetic sludge. In the case of the mechanically-mixed digester, the mixing characteristics of opaque sewage sludge was compared to a transparent synthetic sludge at different mixing speeds. In the gas-mixed apparatus, two synthetic sludges were compared. In all scenarios, quasi-toroidal flow paths were established. However, mixing was less successful in more viscous liquids unless mixing power was increased to compensate for the increase in viscosity. The robustness of the PEPT derived velocities was found to be significantly affected by the frequency with which the particle enters a given volume of the vessel, with the accuracy of the calculated velocity decreasing in regions with low data capture. Nevertheless, PEPT was found to offer a means of accurate validation of computational fluid dynamics models which in turn can help to optimise flow patterns for biogas production. / The first author was funded via an EPSRC CASE award in conjunction with Severn Trent Water. The second author was funded via a University of Birmingham Postgraduate Teaching Assistantship award.

The main goals of this research are to investigate the anaerobic digestibility of algae and to investigate the effects of growth media on the growth rates, nutrient removal kinetics, and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) characteristics of wild type green algae. Anaerobic co-digestion of algae with sewage sludge is proposed to improve the digestibility of algae. It is hypothesized that the addition of sewage sludge improves the hydrolysis rate of algae, which is often the rate-limiting step for anaerobic digestion. It is also hypothesized that the composition and concentration of nutrients in growth media will affect the kinetics of nutrient removal and the content of EPS, which will influence algae flocculation and subsequent anaerobic digestion. In this research, algae collected from a local wastewater treatment plant were cultivated in synthetic medium, primary wastewater effluent and pure or diluted anaerobic sludge centrate. Light cycles and the level of CO2 addition were varied at different stages of cultivation for nutrient removal and physiochemical properties of algae. Harvested algae were then anaerobically co-digested with varying proportions of sewage sludge under mesophilic condition. Results showed that when algae were digested alone (i.e. no sludge addition) with a small amount of seed sludge, algae were poorly digested. When algae were co-digested with sewage sludge, the gas yield was improved and the gas phase (CH4 generation) was reached faster. The biogas yield of algae increased to a comparable level to that of digestion of waste sludge when 44% (by VS) of seed sludge was inoculated for digestion. The addition of sewage sludge improved the hydrolysis rate and the overall digestibility of algae. Algae grown in primary effluent, which had a balanced N/P ratio showed a higher nutrient removal efficiency. The P-limitation in sludge centrate led to lower nutrient removal efficiency and higher EPS production compared to algae grown in primary effluent, indicating that sludge centrate was a harsher medium for algae growth. In conclusion, microalgae can grow in primary effluent and anaerobic sludge centrate for nutrient removal. Anaerobic co-digestion of algae withwaste sludge was strongly recommended to enhance the biogas generation.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(理学) / 甲第24184号 / 理博第4875号 / 新制||理||1698(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院理学研究科生物科学専攻 / (主査)准教授 半谷 吾郎, 准教授 Huffman Michael Alan, 教授 今井 啓雄 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

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