Location: Renewable Product Technology Research
2024 Annual Report
Objectives
The goal of this project is to create new chemical, biochemical, and chemocatalytic processes for economically producing value-added products from biomass, particularly from plant lipids and lignocellulose. Project team members will collaborate within the project, with other ARS researchers, and external partners to reach the following objectives:
Objective 1. Enable biochemical/chemical processes to convert commodity crops, crop oils, and byproducts into value-added commercial bioproducts.
Objective 2. Develop innovative lipid and biopolymer-based encapsulation systems for delivering, preserving, or promoting the activity of bioactive ingredients.
Objective 3. Resolve difficult catalytic processes to produce consumer products and industrial chemicals from crop residue, lignocellulosics, and biorefinery byproducts.
Approach
This research will enhance the economic viability and competitiveness of U.S. agriculture commodities by expanding domestic and global market opportunities associated with the growing bioeconomy through the development of environmentally friendly, value-added food and non-food biobased technologies and products. Plant lipids such as vegetable oil and lecithin are already available in high purity, while lignocellulose is abundant yet chemically complex. To properly exploit these valuable resources, new chemical, biochemical, and chemocatalytic processes must be developed that selectively generate higher value products. The challenge, therefore, centers on finding the most effective chemical, biochemical, and/or chemocatalytic conversion methods, optimizing process reaction conditions for effecting the desired biomass transformations, isolation and purification of the targeted bioproducts, and demonstrating that the bioproducts have equivalent or superior properties to commercially available products.
We have developed several distinctive and innovative approaches to reaching our goal. Our approach involves finding and modifying (in some cases) those catalysts and processes that perform the desired biomass transformation. Biochemical/biocatalytic and chemocatalytic methods will be developed to produce select chemicals from vegetable oils and lignocellulosics. Isolated enzymes will be used to convert lipids and lipid byproducts to consumer-targeted products. Designed multi-layered phospholipids and polysaccharide-based nanoparticles will be used to enhance and deliver bioactive ingredients in food and cosmetics. The sourcing of starting materials from agricultural feedstocks and byproducts in each of these endeavors to find solutions to the barriers that exist in the creation of a biobased economy.
Progress Report
In support of Objective 1, methods for production of feruloyl soy glycerides were improved. Feruloyl soy and coconut glycerides are produced commercially for personal care ingredients using ARS technology to modify vegetable oils (e.g., soybean, coconut) with a natural plant component, called ferulic acid, that has ultraviolet blocking and antioxidant properties. Current manufacturing practices require the use of food grade vegetable oil. We investigated substituting less expensive, cold pressed, virgin vegetable oil in lieu of more expensive food grade vegetable oil. Preliminary, bench-scale results show that the inherent constituents in the less refined, virgin, cold pressed oils (e.g., suspended solids, chlorophyl, tocopherols, etc.) did not adversely impact enzyme kinetics nor the ultraviolet absorbing and antioxidant efficacy of the resultant feruloylated vegetable oils. If the preliminary results operate at pilot scale, this substitution is expected to save 10 – 20 % cost for the vegetable oil feedstock used in the production of feruloylated vegetable oils.
Two natural compounds, 1-feruloyl-sn-glycerol (FG) and 1,3-diferuloyl-sn-glycerol (F2G), found in many plants were discovered as byproducts in the commercial production of feruloyl soy glycerides. Artificial intelligence and self-teaching computer modeling predicted that these feruloylated glycerols are potential antifungal compounds, and the literature confirms that analogous feruloylated sugar derivatives are, indeed, antifungal compounds. In addition, the feruloylated glycerols and feruloylated sucrose were tested in feed choice assays against fall armyworm and corn earworm responsible for significant losses due to corn ear rot. Preliminary results showed possible activity towards the two pests as evidenced by slightly lower feeding activity with food sources treated with the feruloylated derivatives.
In support of Objective 2, new methods were developed to form thin films capable of encapsulating and releasing a small bioactive molecule using polysaccharides modified using ARS technology. These polysaccharides, called alpha-glucans, were synthesized from sucrose using purified enzymes and then converted to water soluble nanoparticles through high-pressure homogenization. The nanoparticles were cast as thin, clear films by simple water evaporation. Films were further strengthened by incorporating cellulose nanofibers, another readily available plant-based polymer. Both alpha-glucans and cellulose nanofibers are natural, replenishable resources that have potential to be used in food, personal care, and cosmeceutical industries for controlled release methods.
In support of Objective 3, progress was made in the development of a novel method to chemically convert agriculturally derived sugars to commercially useful chemicals called diols. The sugar xylose is readily made from corn cobs and so it represents a second revenue source for corn growers. While xylose itself has limited uses, by converting it to diols it becomes a renewable source of chemicals used in polymers, detergents, printing inks, hydraulic fluids, antifreeze, and other common materials.
Progress was made in the development of new technology used in the conversion of butanol, which is an alcohol produced by fermenting agricultural feedstocks, to value-added chemicals typically made from petroleum. This technology utilizes designer catalyst compositions that can selectively convert biobased butanol into chemicals that can be used in plastics and personal care products. Work is ongoing to maximize the activities of the new catalysts to optimize the yields of the desired products. Additionally, other catalyst compositions were developed which can selectively produce chemicals used in fragrances and flavorings. Work is in progress to further optimize this reaction.
Accomplishments
1. Enhanced conversion of bioethanol to higher value products through renewable energy. Ethanol is a renewable fuel made predominantly from corn in the United States. To further expand the market potential beyond its use as a transportation fuel, ARS researchers in Peoria, Illinois, developed new technologies to convert ethanol to chemicals used in production of numerous consumer goods. This was accomplished by using electrical energy to facilitate an electrochemical conversion reaction in the presence of furfural, a biobased chemical made from corn cobs. Ethanol is first converted to acetaldehyde, which had a global market size of $1.63 billion in 2023, and then to 3-(2-furyl)acrolein, or F2A, for use in foods, cosmetics, medicine, and agriculture. This process is advantageous over current methods because the electrical energy to drive the reaction can be derived from renewable resources. This work will benefit corn growers, operators of biorefineries, and the rural economy.
2. Development of new biodegradable biobased films for consumer products. Thin films are typically made from non-biodegradable, petroleum-based plastics and are accumulating across the planet as waste. Biobased thin films provide a viable alternative, since they are biodegradable, have a current market size valued at $1.259 billion in 2024, and are expected to rise to $1.881 billion by 2034. ARS researchers in Peoria, Illinois, have converted a mixture of two natural, replenishable, agriculturally-based polysaccharides into thin films capable of controlled release of bioactive ingredients. These films were produced using a polysaccharide, called alpha-glucan, which is produced by enzymatic conversion of sucrose, and cellulose nanofibers made from wood pulp. These films were shown to encapsulate and slowly release compounds of interest, such as antimicrobials and antioxidants. This research is expanding market opportunities for these agriculturally based polysaccharides in the food, personal care, and cosmetic industries and will provide new environmental and economically sustainable market and job opportunities for rural populations via growth of domestic agricultural businesses.
Review Publications
Qaramaleki, S.V., Cardenas, J., Jackson, M.A., Compton, D.L., Szogi, A.A., Ro, K.S., Coronella, C.J. 2023. Characterization of products from catalytic hydrothermal carbonization of animal manures. Agronomy Journal. 13(9):2219. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13092219.
Evans, K.O., Compton, D.L., Skory, C.D., Appell, M.D. 2023. Biophysical characterization of a-glucan nanoparticles encapsulating feruloylated soy glycerides (FSG). Biotechnology Reports. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.btre.2023.e00817.
Nonarath, H.J.T., Jackson, M.A., Penoske, R.M., Zahrt, T.C., Price, N.P.J., Link, B.A. 2024. The tunicamycin derivative TunR2 exhibits potent antibiotic properties with low toxicity in an in vivo Mycobacterium marinum - zebrafish TB infection model. Journal of Antibiotics. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41429-023-00694-z.
Price, N.P., Jackson, M.A., Hartman, T.M., Bannantine, J.P., Naumann, T.A., Vermillion, K., Koch, A.A., Kennedy, P.D. 2023. Precursor-directed biosynthesis and biological testing of omega-alicyclic- and neo-branched Tunicamycin N-acyl variants. ACS Chemical Biology. https://doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.3c00324.
Chou, K.J., McCaffrey, Z., Klamczynski, A.P., Torres, L.F., Compton, D.L., Glenn, G.M., Hart-Cooper, W.M. 2024. Biodegradation rates of ferulic acid derivatives and traditional sunscreen actives in marine, bay, and freshwater environments. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. 12(10):3899-3908. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c05002.
Appell, M., Wegener, E.C., Sharma, B.K., Eller, F.J., Evans, K.O., Compton, D.L. 2023. In vitro evaluation of the adsorption efficacy of biochar materials on aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin A, and zearalenone. Animals. 13(21). Article 3311. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13213311.