Make high-value microbes from biomass at biorefineries, say researchers

In the UK, researchers writing in AMB Express say that “Microbial biomass itself constitutes an obvious but overlooked by-product of existing biofermentation systems,” adding that “Microbial biotechnology and biotransformations promise to diversify the scope of the biorefinery approach for the production of high-value products and biofuels from industrial, rural and municipal waste feedstocks.”

Authors Claire Hull, Joel LoveridgeIain, S Donnison, Diane Kelly, and Steven Kelly noted that “The probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii is used to treat gastrointestinal disorders and marketed as a human health supplement. Co-production, marketing and/or on-site utilization of probiotic yeast biomass as a direct-fed microbial to improve livestock health represents a novel and viable prospect for rural biorefineries. Given emergent evidence to suggest that dietary yeast supplementations might also mitigate ruminant enteric methane emissions, the administration of probiotic yeast biomass could also offer an economically feasible way of reducing atmospheric methane.”