Search Results (6)

The beef industry contributes to greenhouse gas emissions through enteric methane emissions, exacerbating climate change. Anacardic acid in cashew nutshell extract (CNSE), saponins and tannins (ST) are plant secondary metabolites that show promise in methane mitigation via antimicrobial effects, potentially exerting changes in ruminal fermentation patterns. This study examined the impact of CNSE, ST, and their combination on methane emissions, digestibility, intake, and performance of sixteen Angus crossbred steers (347 ± 30 kg) receiving a backgrounding diet (70:30 corn silage: cottonseed burrs). The study used a 4 × 4 Latin square design (4 steers, 4 treatments, 4 periods) with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, including the main effects of additive (CNSE or ST) fed individually or combined. Thus, steers received the following treatments: (1) no additive, (2) CNSE only, (3) ST only, or (4) both (CNSEST). Non-supplemented steers registered eight more feedbunk visits/d than ST-steers and spent an extra 10 min/d on the feedbunk. The addition of ST tended to increase dry matter, organic matter, and neutral detergent fiber intake. Additives fed individually reduced CP digestibility. Intake of the carrier containing CNSE only was lesser and coincided with a greater methane yield in that treatment. Digestibility and methane mitigation were improved after CNSEST compared with individual inclusion, suggesting synergistic reactions enhanced methane mitigation effects in fibrous diets without affecting the digestibility of nutrients nor animal growth performance. Full article

In this work, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized from cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL) by varying the concentration of silver ions and the pH of the CNSL extract. The synthesized AgNPs were further characterized to study their surface, structural, and morphological properties and tested for the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye. The results of this study showed that depending on the conditions, particles of various sizes, ranging from 1 to 60 nm, and different degrees of stabilization and agglomeration were produced. The concentration of silver ions equal to 3 mM and the pH of the extract of ~4.5 (AgNP3) resulted in the most efficient synthesis, where particles appeared to be highly stabilized and homogeneously distributed on the surface, exhibiting a small average particle size and a narrow particle size distribution (6.7 ± 6.5 nm). Such particles further showed the highest percent removal of MB, where up to 80% removal was recorded within the first 20 min. Higher concentrations of silver ions and higher pH of the extract resulted in substantial particle agglomeration and particles being over-capped by the CNSL biomolecules, respectively, which further negatively affected the ability of particles to remove MB. Finally, the fact that visible light showed no significant effect on the removal of MB, with the average removal rates found to be about the same as in the dark, suggests the strong catalytic nature of AgNPs, which facilitates the electron transfer reactions leading to MB reduction. Full article

The growing demand for energy and the concern about environmental impacts reinforce the necessity for renewable energy sources such as biofuels. In this study, cake generated in the babassu oil extraction was evaluated as a potential feedstock for solid biofuel production, and it contains a blend of cashew nutshell, sugarcane bagasse, carnauba straw, and carnauba stalk. All samples were characterized by proximate analysis and Higher Heating Value. Carbonization was used to improve energy performance and compaction to understand the mechanism and the characteristics of the biomasses compacted. In the extraction of babassu oil, fresh and aged (90 days) kernel samples were used. The fresh samples reached a yield of 59.8%, and the aged samples reached a yield of 70.66%. The carbonization of babassu cake was carried out in a Muffle furnace at temperatures of 250, 300, 350, and 400 °C. The fresh babassu cake showed an HHV of 23.06 MJ kg⁻¹ and after carbonization of 28.07 (250 °C), 30.69 (300 °C), 28.24 (350 °C), and 18.27 MJ kg⁻¹ (400 °C). At 400 °C, a decrease in HHV of 20.8% occurred, and an increase in Ash (%) of 195% occurred. Proximate analysis showed that biomasses are compatible, with some having a higher compatibility than other biological materials already used as fuels in the industry. Full article

Cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL) is a cheap source of natural phenolic compounds that have numerous applications. These phenolic compounds have chemical structures with chromophores similar to those found in synthetic chemical UV-filters, which are present in commercial sunscreen products (SSPs). Thus, this study investigated the impact of solvents on the yield, total phenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and the sun protection factor (SPF) of crude CNSL. The percent yield ranged from (30.4 ± 0.7% to 49.3 ± 3.2%); hexane recorded the lowest yield, while ethanol recorded the highest. Acetone (101.2 ± 2.5 mg GA/g), methanol (99.5 ± 0.10), and chloroform (95.4 ± 3.7 mg GAE/g), recorded the highest TPC respectively, while hexane (33.3 ± 0.7 mg QE/g) recorded the highest TFC. The SPFs ranged from (22.1 ± 1.1 to 16.4 ± 0.8), chloroform (22.1 ± 1.1), acetone (21.5 ± 1.1), and methanol (19.3 ± 1.0) again recorded the highest values respectively, while hexane (16.4 ± 0.8) recorded the lowest. Our results revealed that extracting solvents has a significant impact on the yield and SPF of CNSL. Therefore, we propose that acetone, chloroform, and methanol, either alone or as mixtures, could be the best solvents for extracting CNSL with a good TPC and SPF. Full article

This study evaluated if ranking dairy cows as low and high CH₄ emitters using the GreenFeed system (GF) can be replicated in in vitro conditions using an automated gas system and its possible implications in terms of fermentation balance. Seven pairs of low and high emitters fed the same diet were selected on the basis of residual CH₄ production, and rumen fluid taken from each pair incubated separately in the in vitro gas production system. In total, seven in vitro incubations were performed with inoculums taken from low and high CH₄ emitting cows incubated in two substrates differing in forage-to-concentrate proportion, each without or with the addition of cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL) as an inhibitor of CH₄ production. Except for the aimed differences in CH₄ production, no statistical differences were detected among groups of low and high emitters either in in vivo animal performance or rumen fermentation profile prior to the in vitro incubations. The effect of in vivo ranking was poorly replicated in in vitro conditions after 48 h of anaerobic fermentation. Instead, the effects of diet and CNSL were more consistent. The inclusion of 50% barley in the diet (SB) increased both asymptotic gas production by 17.3% and predicted in vivo CH₄ by 26.2%, when compared to 100% grass silage (S) substrate, respectively. The SB diet produced on average more propionate (+28 mmol/mol) and consequently less acetate compared to the S diet. Irrespective of CH₄ emitter group, CNSL decreased predicted in vivo CH₄ (26.7 vs. 11.1 mL/ g of dry matter; DM) and stoichiometric CH₄ (CH₄VFA; 304 vs. 235 moles/mol VFA), with these being also reflected in decreased total gas production per unit of volatile fatty acids (VFA). Microbial structure was assessed on rumen fluid sampled prior to in vitro incubation, by sequencing of the V4 region of 16S rRNA gene. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) on operational taxonomic unit (OTU) did not show any differences between groups. Some differences appeared of relative abundance between groups in some specific OTUs mainly related to Prevotella. Genus Methanobrevibacter represented 93.7 ± 3.33% of the archaeal sequences. There were no clear differences between groups in relative abundance of Methanobrevibacter. Full article

Cardanol is a natural alkylphenolic compound derived from Cashew NutShell Liquid (CNSL), a non-food annually renewable raw material extracted from cashew nutshells. In the quest for sustainable materials, the curing of biobased monomers and prepolymers with environmentally friendly processes attracts increasing interest. Photopolymerization is considered to be a green technology owing to low energy requirements, room temperature operation with high reaction rates, and absence of solvents. In this work, we study the photocuring of a commercially available epoxidized cardanol, and explore its use in combination with microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) for the fabrication of fully biobased composites. Wet MFC mats were prepared by filtration, and then impregnated with the resin. The impregnated mats were then irradiated with ultraviolet (UV) light. Fourier Transform InfraRed (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used to investigate the photocuring of the epoxidized cardanol, and of the composites. The thermomechanical properties of the composites were assessed by thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and dynamic mechanical analysis. We confirmed that fully cured composites could be obtained, although a high photoinitiator concentration was needed, possibly due to a side reaction of the photoinitiator with MFC. Full article