Debido a la creciente demanda de alimentos funcionales y suplementos dietarios, la producción de hongos ha aumentado significativamente en los últimos años, razón por la cual el estudio de las condiciones operacionales que afectan el cultivo biotecnológico de estos hongos se ha convertido en el objeto de estudio de muchos investigadores. Con esta investigación se busca evaluar el efecto que tiene el pH, la agitación y la aireación sobre la producción de biomasa y polisacáridos de un hongo filamentoso en fermentaciones realizadas en biorreactor de 5L. Los resultados permitieron establecer que una estrategia de pH escalonado que incluye dos etapas una con control a un pH fijo y una segunda etapa sin control, combinada con estrés hidrodinámico, que implica alta agitación y alta aireación, favorece la producción de biomasa y polisacáridos, alcanzando incrementos de hasta 100% comparados con los obtenido con las condiciones de referencia.

The primary production of coffee involves the extensive use of water resources, since it is not only used for irrigation of coffee plantations, but it is also required in large volumes for the processing of the coffee berry to obtain high quality green beans. It is calculated that for every kg of dry coffee grain produced, up to 40 L of water are consumed, and its disposal represents a significant environmental problem, since most coffee growers are small producers with no access to efficient technologies for wastewater treatment. This situation leads to these liquid wastes to be discarded untreated in natural water sources, generating environmental pollution and public health problems. Bioelectrochemical Systems (BES) have been proposed as an alternative to conventional wastewater treatments, either as a primary bioremediation strategy or for secondary wastewater treatment systems. Among BES, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are designed to exploit the metabolic capability of andophilic microorganisms to degrade the organic matter present in the waste. Anodophilic microorganisms use electrodes as terminal electron acceptors, generating a flow of electrons that can be used in the generation of electricity. In this work, we evaluated the ability of native microbial communities to degrade the organic matter present in wastewater from the coffee agroindustry and its electrogenic potential for the co-generation of electricity was evaluated using an MFC device developed by the authors. Wastewater samples obtained at different stages of the coffee wet process were used as inoculum and feedstocks. The system was operated in fed-batch, in both open and closed-circuit conditions, for 60 days. The degree of decontamination or bioremediation of the wastewater was assessed by measurements of physicochemical parameters. For the characterization of the native microbial community, microscopic and molecular techniques were used and the electrogenic potential was established by assessing the electrochemical performance of the system. With the proposed bioelectrochemical system, a reduction of up to 70% of the initial content of organic matter of the residual water from the coffee benefit was achieved, and open circuit voltages of up to 400 mV were recorded, comparable to those reported for conventional air breathing cathode MFC.

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are an alternative to conventional wastewater treatments that allow for the removal of organic matter and cogeneration of electrical energy, taking advantage of the oxidation–reduction metabolism of organic compounds conducted by microorganisms. In this study, the electrogenic potential and the capacity for the reduction of the organic matter of native microbial communities in wastewater from the wet processing of coffee were evaluated using open-cathode MFCs. To determine the electrogenic potential, a factorial experimental design was proposed in which the origin of the residual water and the source of the inoculum were evaluated as factors. The MFCs operated for 21 days in both open-circuit and closed-circuit operation modes. Voltage records, current determinations, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) analyses were used to establish the power reached in the electrochemical system and the degree of the decontamination of the wastewater. During the MFC operation, voltages from 200–400 mV and power and current densities from 300–900 mW·m−2 and 10–22 mA·m−2, respectively, were reached. The inoculum used, with a statistical significance of α < 0.05, influenced the electrogenic performance of the microbial fuel cell. The previous process of adaptation to the operational conditions of the MFCs of the native microbial community positively influenced the current generation in the system. The degradation rates reached 500–600 mg·L−1·day−1, indicating the metabolic capacity of the microbial community in the MFCs to achieve the decontamination of wastewater from the coffee agroindustry. It was shown the implementation of bioelectrochemical systems constituted a viable option for the treatment of agricultural waste in Colombia. In addition, it was observed the capacity to cogenerate electrical energy from the biotransformation of the polluting organic matter in the effluents of the coffee industry.