Sugars obtained from pretreated lignocellulose are interesting as substrate for the production of lactic acid in fermentation processes. However, by-products formed during pretreatment of lignocellulose can inhibit microbial growth. In this study, a small-scale rapid screening method was used to identify inhibitory effects of single and combined by-products on growth of lactic acid producing micro-organisms. The small-scale screening was performed in 48-well plates using 5 bacterial species and 12 by-products. Large differences were observed in inhibitory effects of by-products between different species. Predictions can be made for growth behaviour of different micro-organisms on acid pretreated or alkaline pretreated bagasse substrates using data from the small-scale screening. Both individual and combined inhibition effects were shown to be important parameters to predict growth. Synergy between coumaric acid, formic acid and acetic acid is a key inhibitory parameter in alkaline pretreated lignocellulose, while furfural is a key inhibitor in acid pretreated lignocellulose.

A continuous challenge for spray drying operations is the optimal control of product quality despite the complex process removal of water and particle formation. In general, high product functionality (e.g. in terms of reconstitution behavior, high enzyme activity or appropriate living probiotic bacteria) is key to the success of spray-dried powders. In this article, we review scientific studies that employ single droplet drying approaches to unravel underlying phenomena of spray drying process. Moreover, we identify scientific challenges to advance single droplet drying studies and thus contribute to development of mechanism-based guidelines for spray drying of functional food powders.

Pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment, or electroporation, can be used to load molecules into cells. The permeabilizing effect of the PEF treatment on the cellular membrane can be either reversible or irreversible depending on the severity of the PEF treatment conditions. The influence of PEF on the reversibility of membrane permeabilization in Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1 by two different fluorescent staining methods was investigated in this study. Whereas staining with propidium iodide (PI) before and after PEF treatment indicated small reversible permeabilized fractions of maximum 14%, the use of a double staining method with PI and SYTOX Green suggested larger reversible permeabilized fractions up to 40% of the population. This difference shows that the choice for a fluorescent staining method affects the conclusions drawn regarding reversibility of membrane permeabilization. Additionally, the effect of PEF treatment conditions on membrane integrity was compared, indicating a relation between critical electric field strength, cell size and membrane permeabilization. Overall this study showed the possibilities and limitations of fluorescent membrane integrity staining methods for PEF studies.

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