During the industrial extraction of starch from potatoes (Seresta), some starch remains within undisrupted potato cells in the fibrous side-stream. The aim of this study was to investigate if enzymatic degradation of cell wall polysaccharides (CWPs) can enhance starch recovery and lower the water holding capacity (WHC) of the "fibre" fraction. The use of a pectinase-rich preparation recovered 58% of the starch present in the "fibre" fraction. Also, the "fibre" fraction retained only 40% of the water present in the non-enzyme treated "fibre". This was caused by the degradation of pectins, in particular arabinogalactan side chains calculated as the sum of galactosyl and arabinosyl residues.

Production of hydrogen by the extreme thermophiles Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus and Thermotoga neapolitana was studied in serum flasks and in pH-controlled bioreactors with glucose, and hydrolyzed and untreated potato steam peels (PSP) as carbon sources. Two types of PSP hydrolysates were used: one in which the starch in the PSP was liquefied with alpha-amylase, and one in which the liquefied starch was further hydrolyzed to glucose by amyloglucosidase.When the PSP hydrolysates or untreated PSP were added at circa 10-14 g/L of glucose units, both strains grew well and produced hydrogen with reasonable to high molar yields (2.4-3.8 moles H-2/mole glucose units), and no significant production of lactate. The hydrogen production rates and yields were similar with untreated PSP, hydrolyzed PSP, and pure glucose, showing that C. saccharolyticus and T. neapolitana are well equipped for the utilization of starch. When the concentrations of the substrates were increased, growth and hydrogen production of both strains were hampered. At substrate concentrations of circa 30-40 g/L of glucose units, the molar hydrogen yield of C. saccharolyticus was severely reduced due to the formation of high amounts of lactate, while T. neapolitana was unable to grow at all.The results showed that PSP and PSP hydrolysates are very suitable substrates for efficient fermentative hydrogen production at moderate substrate loadings. (C) 2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hydrogen was produced from carrot pulp hydrolysate, untreated carrot pulp and (mixtures of) glucose and fructose by the extreme thermophiles Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus and Thermotoga neapolitana in pH-controlled bioreactors. Carrot pulp hydrolysate was obtained after enzymatic hydrolysis of the polysaccharide fraction in carrot pulp. The main sugars in the hydrolysate were glucose, fructose, and sucrose.In fermentations with glucose hydrogen yields and productivities were similar for both strains. With fructose the hydrogen yield of C. saccharolyticus was reduced which might be related to uptake of glucose and fructose by different types of transport systems. With T. neapolitana the fructose consumption rate and consequently the hydrogen productivity were low.The hydrogen yields of both thermophiles were 2.7-2.8 mol H-2/mol hexose with 10 g/L sugars from carrot pulp hydrolysate. With 20 g/L sugars the yield of T. neapolitana was 2.4 mol H-2/mol hexose while the yield of C. saccharolyticus was reduced to 1.3 mol H-2/mol hexose due to high lactate production in the stationary growth phase.C. saccharolyticus was able to grow on carrot pulp and utilized soluble sugars and, after adaptation, pectin and some (hemi)cellulose. No growth was observed with T. neapolitana when using carrot pulp in agitated fermentations.Enzymatic hydrolysis of the polysaccharide fraction prior to fermentation increased the hydrogen yield with almost 10% to 2.3 g/kg of hydrolyzed carrot pulp. (C) 2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.