Biorefining of protein waste for production of sustainable fuels and chemicals

• Main Authors: Si-Yu Li, I-Son Ng, Po Ting Chen, Chung-Jen Chiang, Yun-Peng Chao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2018-09-01
• Series: Biotechnology for Biofuels
• Subjects: Biorefinery; Protein waste; Biomass; Bio-based chemicals; Metabolic engineering
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13068-018-1234-5

Abstract To mitigate the climate change caused by CO2 emission, the global incentive to the low-carbon alternatives as replacement of fossil fuel-derived products continuously expands the need for renewable feedstock. There will be accompanied by the generation of enormous protein waste as a result. The economical viability of the biorefinery platform can be realized once the surplus protein waste is recycled in a circular economy scenario. In this context, the present review focuses on the current development of biotechnology with the emphasis on biotransformation and metabolic engineering to refine protein-derived amino acids for production of fuels and chemicals. Its scope starts with the explosion of potential feedstock sources rich in protein waste. The availability of techniques is applied for purification and hydrolysis of various feedstock proteins to amino acids. Useful lessons are leaned from the microbial catabolism of amino acids and lay a foundation for the development of the protein-based biotechnology. At last, the future perspective of the biorefinery scheme based on protein waste is discussed associated with remarks on possible solutions to overcome the technical bottlenecks.