Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) are potential sources of microplastics (MPs) in the aquatic environment. This study aimed to investigate the potential of wastewater-native microalgae consortia to remove MPs from the effluent of two different types of WWTPs as a dual-purpose solution for MPs mitigation and biomass production. For that purpose, the occurrence of MPs from two types of WWTP effluents was analys...
The valorization of microalgal biomass produced during wastewater treatment has the potential to mitigate treatment costs. As contaminated biomass (e.g., with pharmaceuticals, toxic metals, etc.) is often generated, biogas production is considered an effective valorization option. The biomass was obtained from a pilot facility of photobioreactors for tertiary wastewater treatment. The pilots were run for one ye...
Opuntia ficus indica (OFI) waste was evaluated as a fermentation feedstock for lactic acid production using Lactobacillus plantarum. Dilute acid pretreatment of the OFI cladodes (OFIC) was performed for extracting maximum fermentable sugars by optimizing process parameters using statistical optimization method. The best results were obtained with HCl 1% (v/v), temperature 120 ◦C, residence time 40 min, granulat...
Natural products may be applied in a wide range of domains, from agriculture to food and pharmaceutical industries. In this study, the antioxidant properties and the capacity to inhibit some enzymatic activities ofEuphorbia resiniferaandEuphorbia officinarumaqueous extracts and honeys were assessed. The physicochemical characteristics were also evaluated. Higher amounts of iron, copper and aluminium were detect...
Honey is a natural food product very famous for its health benefits for being an important source of antioxidant and phenolic compounds. <i>Euphorbia</i> honeys obtained from different regions of Morocco were evaluated for their ability to inhibit acetylcholinesterase, lipoxygenase, tyrosinase and xanthine oxidase activities. Their antioxidant properties were evaluated using the: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (...
Microalgae have been considered third generation feedstock for biofuel production based on the expectation that large amounts of algal biomass can be cultivated at an acceptable cost. Transformation of biomass into ethanol requires a saccharification step, where complex carbohydrates are broken down by hydrolysis into sugars that can be fermented to bioethanol. Carbohydrate mobilization is hampered by the recal...
Alpha-amylases are a large family of α,1-4-endo-glycosyl hydrolases distributed in all kingdoms of life. The need for poly-extremotolerant amylases encouraged their search in extreme environments, where archaea become ideal candidates to provide new enzymes that are able to work in the harsh conditions demanded in many industrial applications. In this study, a collection of haloarchaea isolated from Odiel salte...
Natural products may be applied in a wide range of domains, from agriculture to food and pharmaceutical industries. In this study, the antioxidant properties and the capacity to inhibit some enzymatic activities of Euphorbia resinifera and Euphorbia officinarum aqueous extracts and honeys were assessed. The physicochemical characteristics were also evaluated. Higher amounts of iron, copper and aluminium were de...
Honey is a natural food product very famous for its health benefits for being an important source of antioxidant and phenolic compounds. Euphorbia honeys obtained from different regions of Morocco were evaluated for their ability to inhibit acetylcholinesterase, lipoxygenase, tyrosinase and xanthine oxidase activities. Their antioxidant properties were evaluated using the: 2,2-diphenyl- 1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) ...