Chapters authored
Bioconversion of Lactose from Cheese Whey to Organic Acids
Organic acids constitute a group of organic compounds that find multiple applications in the food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. For this reason, the market for these products is continuously growing. Traditionally, most organic acids have been produced by chemical synthesis from oil derivatives. However, the irreversible depletion of oil has led us to pay attention to other primary sources as possible raw materials to produce organic acids. The microbial production of organic acids from lactose could be a valid, economical, and sustainable alternative to guarantee the sustained demand for organic acids. Considering that lactose is a by-product of the dairy industry, this review describes different procedures to obtain organic acids from lactose by using microbial bioprocesses.
Part of the book: Lactose and Lactose Derivatives
Uses of the Response Surface Methodology for the Optimization of Agro-Industrial Processes
Response surface methodology is a tool for the design of experiments, widely used today to optimize industrial processes, including agro-industrial ones. Since its appearance in the last century’s fifties, hundreds of articles, chapters of books, and books attest to this. In this work, a general overview of this tool’s general practical aspects is made. This statistical tool’s usefulness and popularity, used in the optimization of agro-industrial processes and in making them more efficient and sustainable, is described through multiple examples.
Part of the book: Response Surface Methodology in Engineering Science