EUBCE 2024 - Thalles ANDRADE - Optimization of the Leaf Protein Extraction Yield in a Green Biorefinery Demonstration Plant

Optimization of the Leaf Protein Extraction Yield in a Green Biorefinery Demonstration Plant

Short Introductive summary

A demonstration platform for green biorefinery was constructed at Aarhus University, Denmark, to generate a protein-rich concentrate from green biomass as an alternative to traditional soybean meal in the nutrition of monogastric animals. The demonstration facilities have been continuously developed and optimized. A recently implemented intensive maceration involves suspending the biomass in liquid and utilizing a disruptor to effectively break it down. This approach has demonstrated its capability to enhance the yield of the protein extracted from the biomass, achieving a higher yield by minimizing the remaining protein content in the fiber pulp. This study suggests conducting trials wherein the liquid used for slurring the biomass will be substituted with brown juice and permeate from the brown juice, in contrast to the existing method that employs green juice. The study has concluded that the intensive maceration contributed to enhancing the crude protein extracted from the biomass from 40% to up to 72%. Among the liquid solutions, brown juice was identified as the best alternative for forming a slurry with the cut biomass.

T.A. Andrade, Aarhus University, DENMARK
N.H.M. dos Passos, Aarhus University, DENMARK
D.E.L. Fetzer, Aarhus University, DENMARK
M. Ambye-Jensen, Aarhus University, DENMARK