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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Renewable Product Technology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #303130
Title: Conversion of coffee byproducts to biofuels and bioproducts using biorefinery concept

Author
item LOPEZ-NUNEZ, JUAN CARLOS - Cenicafe
item Hughes, Stephen
item JONES, MARJORIE - Illinois State University
item RIANO, NESTOR - Cenicafe
item RODRIQUEZ, NELSON - Cenicafe
item GAST, FERNANDO - Cenicafe
item BROWN, ROBERT - Iowa State University
item DARZINS, AL - Gas Technology Institute (GTI)

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/8/2014
Publication Date: 9/10/2014
Citation: Lopez-Nunez, J., Hughes, S.R., Jones, M.A., Riano, N.M., Rodriquez, N., Gast, F., Brown, R.C., Darzins, A. 2014. Conversion of coffee byproducts to biofuels and bioproducts using biorefinery concept [abstract].

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Coffee is said to be the second most traded commodity in the world, and during the two-year period 2012-2013, 143.1 million 60-kg bags per year were produced, signifying its importance to the global economy. Colombia participated with a production of 10.2 million 60-kg bags per year during the same period. In that country, more than 2 million people make a living directly from coffee production. Coffee fruit is only 7.6% of the fresh weight in the preparation of the beverage, and the remaining 92.4% results in residues. The two main coffee byproducts generated during coffee processing are the fruit pulp and mucilage that represent approximately 45% and 15%, respectively, of the weight of fresh fruit. For every million 60-kg bags of dried coffee beans that Colombia exports, 218,400 tons of fresh pulp and mucilage are generated, which in a pollution context, has a Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) equivalent to what would be generated during a given year by dumping raw sewage from a city of more than a million inhabitants. Concerted efforts by coffee producing countries are underway to develop environmentally sound practices for disposal of coffee wastes. These efforts have been focused on improving technology for treatment of the significant amounts of pulp and mucilage waste from coffee processing to prevent ecological damage to the region’s water supply. This work will discuss a biorefinery concept that has the potential to convert waste produced at crop processing operations, such as coffee pulping stations, to valuable biofuels and bioproducts using a series of microbial conversion processes followed by water treatment then pyrocracking and hydroformylation. The initial bioconversion step uses a novel thermotolerant mutant Kluyveromyces marxianus yeast strain to produce bioethanol from the sugars in the pulp and mucilage waste. The resulting sugar-depleted solids (mostly protein) are subsequently deaminated by the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica to produce organic ammonia fertilizer. The residual protein is degraded by Y. lipolytica proteases to peptides and free aminoCoffee is said to be the second most traded commodity in the world, and during the two-year period 2012-2013, 143.1 million 60-kg bags per year were produced, signifying its importance to the global economy. Colombia participated with a production of 10.2 million 60-kg bags per year during the same period. In that country, more than 2 million people make a living directly from coffee production. Coffee fruit is only 7.6% of the fresh weight in the preparation of the beverage, and the remaining 92.4% results in residues. The two main coffee byproducts generated during coffee processing are the fruit pulp and mucilage that represent approximately 45% and 15%, respectively, of the weight of fresh fruit. For every million 60-kg bags of dried coffee beans that Colombia exports, 218,400 tons of fresh pulp and mucilage are generated, which in a pollution context, has a Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) equivalent to what would be generated during a given year by dumping raw sewage from a city of more than a million inhabitants. Concerted efforts by coffee producing countries are underway to develop environmentally sound practices for disposal of coffee wastes. These efforts have been focused on improving technology for treatment of the significant amounts of pulp and mucilage waste from coffee processing to prevent ecological damage to the region’s water supply. This work will discuss a biorefinery concept that has the potential to convert waste produced at crop processing operations, such as coffee pulping stations, to valuable biofuels and bioproducts using a series of microbial conversion processes followed by water treatment then pyrocracking and hydroformylation. The initial bioconversion step uses a novel thermotolerant mutant Kluyveromyces marxianus yeast strain to p