Three Things You Need to Know About Bioproducts

 


Three Things You Need to Know About Bioproducts

Bioproducts can help our rising consumption problem and how it's affecting the earth, but what is a bioproduct? It is important first to understand what a bioproduct is before hopping into the fun facts, a bioproduct is any given product that has been sourced from biological processes or materials. Bioproducts are usually made from renewable materials/resources (ie. plants and animals). Bioproducts are liked by many well-informed citizens due to their sustainability and how they are not bad for the environment, such as many non-bioproducts. They are also honored due to the fact that they have potential to reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere.


Fermentation

What fermentation is is basically the chemical breakdown of a certain substance which can be done in many ways such as bacteria, yeast, or other organisms. Fermentation will typically occur without the use of oxygen in other terms known as anaerobic. Much like aerobic respiration, the substance that goes through the chemical breakdown is usually a six carbon sugar, such as glucose or sucrose (Lesson 19). Fermentation is key in the process of creating bioproducts.

Fermentation works by the utilization of many byproducts such as ethanol, lactic acid, and acetic acid, which are all produced by different microorganisms. Fermentation processes can be categorized into two main types of versions: the processes focused on obtaining certain by-products of fermentation, and the processes focused on changing the chemical composition of certain biomass feedstock. When yeast cells metabolize the biomass that has been provided, such as glucose, they produce ethanol as a by-product. In the processing of cocoa beans after being harvested, the fermentation occurs naturally through microorganisms that eat away at the beans outer covering. The goal isn’t to extract fermentation by-products, but to use the fermentation to achieve specific outcomes (Lesson 19).


The Different Types of Bioplastics

Plastic use has obviously been a problem throughout the past decade. Biodegradable and non-biodegradable plastics are different, and biodegradable and bioproducts are not hand in hand. Confused yet? Many bioplastics are produced via fermentation. Bioplastics are made from plant material. So, a plastic that is not biodegradable but made from plant material is still a bioplastic. There are bioplastics that are biodegradable and non-biodegradable, and compostable. Compostable plastics do not always end up as compost either, and that is due to human error (Lesson 20).





Potential of Biobased Products

In the article “The potential of emerging bio-based products to reduce environmental impacts” the authors try their best to do an in depth analysis on what the potential of biobased products is for the future and how it affects the environment. The ones conducting the experiment used in depth LCAs. I could go in depth with all of the numbers but the fact of the matter is that the calculations, used in ratios to evaluate the difference in the environmental impacts between bio based material and the opposite of it, “fossil” based material. The ratio is to show the change in the impacts of the environment. Interestingly enough the study came back that there would be a 45% decrease in the GHG footprints for biobased products compared to the fossil based products. This could be an incredible change for the environment.












Works Cited

Fermentation

https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Microbiology/Microbiology_Laboratory_Manual_(Hartline)/01%3A_Labs/1.22%3A_Fermentation

Lesson 19, Fermentation, BBE 1002, UMN

Lesson 20, Bioplastics, BBE 1002, UMN

Reimagining Renewable Resources

https://www.bioproducts.msstate.edu/

The potential of emerging bio-based products to reduce environmental impacts

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-43797-9#Sec2

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