The high production yields of pigments by Talaromyces spp. and their high thermal stability have implied that industrial application interests may emerge in the food and textile industries, as they both involve subjecting the colourants to high temperatures. The present study aimed to assess the potential application of the pigments produced by Talaromyces spp. in the textile area by studying their dyeing properties. Dyeing studies were performed on wool. The dyeing process consisted of three stages: scouring, mordanting, and dyeing. Two different mordants (alum, A; ferric chloride, F) were tested at different concentrations on fabric weight (A: 5, 10, 15%; F: 10, 20, 30%). The mordanting process had a significant effect on the final colour of the dyed fabrics obtained. The values of dyeing rate constant (k), half-time of dyeing (t_1/2), and sorption kinetics behaviour were evaluated and discussed. The obtained results showed that pigments produced by Talaromyces spp. could serve as a source for the natural dyeing of wool textiles.

The main objective of integrative biorefinery platforms is to propose efficient green methodologies addressed to obtain high-value compounds with low emissions through biochemical conversions. This work first screened the capacity of various oleaginous yeast to cosynthesize high-value biomolecules such as lipids and carotenoids. Selected strains were evaluated for their ability to coproduce such biocompounds in the waste-based media of agro-food (brewer’s spent grain, pasta processing waste and bakery waste). Carbon and nitrogen source feedstock was obtained through enzymatic hydrolysis of the agro-food waste, where up to 80% of total sugar/starch conversion was obtained. Then, the profitability of the bioprocess for microbial oil (MO) and carotenoids production by Sporobolomyces roseus CFGU-S005 was estimated via simulation using SuperPro Designer^®. Results showed the benefits of establishing optimum equipment scheduling by identifying bottlenecks to increase profitability. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated the impact of MO price and batch throughput on process economics. A profitable process was achieved with a MO batch throughput of 3.7 kg/batch (ROI 31%, payback time 3.13 years). The results revealed areas that require further improvement to achieve a sustainable and competitive process for the microbial production of carotenoids and lipids.