This article reviews biochar production and its potential applications across various sectors, including agriculture, environmental remediation, and energy storage. It emphasizes the critical role of feedstock source and process parameters, such as residence time, heating rate, and temperature, in determining biochar’s properties. Although extensive research has been conducted on the physical and chemical properties of biochar, there remains a significant gap in evaluating its practical applications. This paper emphasizes the role of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) as a valuable tool for optimizing both biochar production and its application strategies. By exploring scholarly articles and patents, it offers insights into biochar production techniques, characterization methods, and the importance of process optimization for sustainable and efficient biochar use in real-world scenarios.

Cachaça, a traditional Brazilian spirit, undergoes significant sensory refinement through barrel aging. In this study, we investigated how heat treatment of Brazilian woods (Balsam, Jaqueira, Jequitibá, Amburana, and Ipê) affects the sensory profile of cachaça, using Oak as a benchmark. Physicochemical characterization, toasting assessments, sensory analysis, and artificial intelligence (AI) were integrated to develop a predictive model for optimizing wood selection and heat-treatment conditions to achieve targeted sensory profiles. Applying this model, we produced a five-wood cachaça, a novel spirit distinguished by its complexity and customized sensory attributes. This approach reveals that each wood species develops distinct characteristics depending on toasting parameters such as time and temperature, challenging the current Brazilian practice where a single toasting condition is applied to all woods without prior physicochemical analysis. Linking wood composition with sensory outcomes through AI, this work introduces an unprecedented product innovation and demonstrates the potential of multi-criteria analysis to guide spirit maturation, enhance product design, and reshape the beverage industry.

This study explores an innovative approach to mead production by incorporating Frieseomelitta varia bee pollen as a microbial starter to promote probiotic fermentation. Mead was produced using 5 kg of honey (82° Brix, pH 4.5), 26 L of filtered water, 20 g of pollen for lactic fermentation, and 10 g of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (M05 Mead Yeast) for alcoholic fermentation. A total of six sanitized fermentative reactors were used with varied pollen concentrations (1–20 g/2 L). The process included wort preparation (boiling, cooling, and mixing), 24 days of fermentation, 2 months of maturation, and final bottling. Samples were analyzed using standardized methods for alcohol content, pH, original and final gravity, color (ultraviolet–visible [UV–vis], 430 nm), and volatile profiles (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry [GC-MS]). Sensory evaluation assessed aroma and flavor on a 1–5 scale. The results showed that F. varia pollen supports microbial activity, yielding a mead with probiotic counts above 10⁶ colony-forming unit (CFU) mL⁻¹. The addition of pollen enhanced physicochemical characteristics and sensory properties, producing a probiotic mead with potential health benefits. This approach not only improves product quality but also aligns with growing market interest in functional and fermented beverages.