Process Intensification in Microbial Biotechnology for Fermentation

A special issue of Fermentation (ISSN 2311-5637). This special issue belongs to the section "Industrial Fermentation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2027 | Viewed by 1014

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Guest Editor
Department of Fundamental Chemistry, Federal University of Pernambuco, Av. Jorn. Aníbal Fernandes, Cidade Universitária, Recife CEP 50740-560, Pernambuco, Brazil
Interests: organic chemistry; biotechnology; biocatalysis; vegetable biomass; biotransformation; enzymatic catalysis; fermentation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Process intensification (PI) in microbial biotechnology for fermentation is an important trend in the fermentation industry, addressing strategies to make fermentative processes more efficient, economical, and sustainable. PI arises from the need to increase productivity, reduce energy, water, and input consumption, and shorten residence times and environmental impacts.

New discoveries in PI for microbial fermentation require interdisciplinary collaboration among bioengineering, process science, materials chemistry, and automation. This Special Issue, “Process Intensification in Microbial Biotechnology for Fermentation”, welcomes contributions addressing these interconnected areas. Submissions may include state-of-the-art assessments, new methods and approaches, and prospects for future developments in the field.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, co-culture fermentations, continuous cultivation, microbial hosts, process intensification, process integration, improvements in reactor technologies, separation, purification, product recovery, microencapsulation, use of emulsions, the combination of unit operations, and integrated bioprocess development. Submissions addressing challenges such as high initial costs, control complexity, data modeling, and regulatory issues are especially welcome.

Dr. Darlisson De Alexandria Santos
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized 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 2100 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

  • process integration
  • process optimization
  • co-culture and continuous fermentations
  • product treatment and recovery
  • integrated bioprocess development
  • sustainability and environmental impact
  • chemical materials applied to bioprocesses
  • new reactor technologies
  • microbial hosts

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 2759 KB  
Article
Microaeration for Enhancement of Methane Productivity from Cassava Wastewater and Digestibility of Added Cassava Residue
by Kessara Seneesrisakul, Oijai Khongsumran, Krittiya Pornmai, Ee Ling Yong, Malinee Leethochawalit and Sumaeth Chavadej
Fermentation 2026, 12(5), 212; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation12050212 - 25 Apr 2026
Viewed by 608
Abstract
Microaeration has been applied to enhance anaerobic digestion (AD), although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This work proposes that improving methanogenic activity can be achieved by alleviating micronutrient deficiencies and enhancing digestibility. The microaeration technique was employed to enhance the methanogenic activity of [...] Read more.
Microaeration has been applied to enhance anaerobic digestion (AD), although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This work proposes that improving methanogenic activity can be achieved by alleviating micronutrient deficiencies and enhancing digestibility. The microaeration technique was employed to enhance the methanogenic activity of cassava wastewater (CW) both with and without added cassava residue (CR) and to improve CR digestibility in a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) at 37 °C. The sole CW had the optimal COD loading rate of 1.71 kg/m3d. The addition of CR at 1000 mg/L to the CW resulted in the greatest methanogenic improvement of 88% compared with the sole CW and provided the greatest digestibility of CR. Under the optimal specific O2 dosage rate (3 mL/LRd), the improvements in CH4 yields were 251% and 140% in comparison to those of the sole CW and the CW with added CR, respectively. Additionally, it achieved substantial improvements in digestibility for the cellulose (59%), hemicellulose (61%), and remaining starch (67%) fractions of added CR. However, lignin degradation remained unaffected, a potential area for future optimization. This work opens new avenues for enhancing biogas production from wastewater by adding agricultural residue in conjunction with microaeration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Process Intensification in Microbial Biotechnology for Fermentation)
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