Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a new technology in biochemistry and biotechnology that make it possible to convert chemical energy into electrical energy through oxidation of organic materials with the help of microorganisms. Energy obtained from MFCs can be a good substitute for fossil fuels, but this option has not been realized up to the present time because it has not become economically justifiable yet. Therefore, a lot of research must be conducted to study all aspects of this proposition to eliminate its shortcomings and reduce its costs so that it can produce substantial amounts of electricity, in addition to treating wastewater, and be cost-effective for industries. This research attempted to understand MFCs, their structure and applications, and factors that influence them as a water treatment system and also as a means of generating electricity.

Helicobacter infection is one of the gastrointestinal diseases, which is usually treated with antibiotics and chemical medicine. These treatments suffer from antibiotic resistance. Thus, this study provides a solution using nettle (Urtica Dioica) extract along with Bifidobacterium (BF). The main challenge is transferring these two compounds to the environment containing Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) such as stomach. The interaction between the nettle extract and BF and also with H. pylori were studied regarding the inhibition zone diameter, viability of probiotics, pH and acidity changes at three different time intervals (1, 11, and 21 days). Results revealed that the samples containing the nettle extract showed bigger inhibition zone and consequently were more effective in preventing the growth of H. pylori. Furthermore, the nettle extract was enhanced the BF activity resulting in production of more antimicrobial metabolites. The alcoholic extract of nettle provided better inhibition properties than the aqueous extract. The formulated yogurts in this study could pave a new way in bringing new treatments for who suffers from Helicobacter infection induced gastrointestinal diseases.

Today, the world is facing climate change challenges with environmental protection being a top priority. Optimizing energy consumption due to its high cost and environment protection is a basic human demand. For industries, reduction in production costs is determinative to success. In this regard, Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a unique promising technology with wastewater treatment and bioelectricity generation. The MFCs will help reduce energy consumption, curb the wastewater pollution, and standardize it for releasing into the environment. The food industry by producing high volumes of biomass with high organic pollution load are highly prone to use in MFCs as a substrate. Various food industry effluents have been tested, in real or synthetic form in the MFCs. Due to the improvements in the process and progress in novel configurations, better results have been increasingly obtained. Now, the MFC can be used in the industries individually or by integration with other technologies. In this review, the latest results from the use of food industry wastewater in MFCs along with effective process conditions are evaluated.