Antinutritional Factors (ANFs) are compounds produced by plants as defense mechanisms, and in high concentrations, they inhibit nutritional properties. Reducing these ANFs increases the presence of proteins, antioxidants, and vitamins, which is crucial for optimizing animal feed, particularly in developing countries where traditional methods may be costly. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) has the potential to improve the nutritional quality of animal feed derived from cereals and legumes cultivated and non-commercially cultivated by reducing antinutrients and enhancing nutrient availability. This review also considers the potential of non-native species, including those exhibiting invasive behavior and taxonomic similarity to cultivated varieties, as alternative substrates for SSF. Additionally, SSF highlights the biological properties of ANFs when extracted and utilized for technological and industrial advancements. Solid-state fermentation with lactic acid bacteria could be an effective and straightforward method for reducing these antinutritional factors while simultaneously enriching protein content. The aim is to present solid-state fermentation as a biotechnological tool to reduce antinutritional factors and enhance the nutritional content of legumes and cereals that are not cultivated for animal feed. This perspective contributes to expanding the range of raw materials considered for SSF by including taxonomically related but underutilized and ecologically problematic plant resources.

Energy and the environment will always play key roles in society. The climate emergency cannot be ruled out to enable the transition for a clean energy future. Currently, non-renewable energy resources are declining, therefore is important to continuously explore renewable resources. Biomass is a renewable resource that can be applied to reduce climate changes and to accomplhish emission policies. Cellulose is the most abundant type of biomass worldwide, which can be transformed into biofuels and potential building block platform molecules (e.g furfural) throughout biological or chemical methods. Furfural can be synthetized from cellulose using hydrolysis and dehydration reactions. Furfural has a furan ring and carbonyl functional group which makes it an important intermediary to produce higher value-added molecules at industrial level. These molecules include gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. However, furfural can also be transformed by hydrogenation, oxidation, decarboxylation and condensation reactions. The selective hydrogenation of furfural produces furfuryl alcohol, an important industrial compound, which is widely employed in the production of resins, fibers, and is considered an essential product for pharmaceutical applications. On the other hand, the oxidation of furfural produces furoic acid which is appliedin the agrochemical industry, where it is commonly transformed to furoyl chloride which is finally used in the production of drugs and insecticides. The oxidation and reduction of furfural can carry out through heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis, and biocatalysis. Selectivity is an important issue in furfural hydrogenation and oxidation reactions since different products can be obtained by using monometallic or bimetallic catalysts and/or different catalyst supports. In biocatalysis approach, different enzymes, complete cells, tools of modern biotechnology, DNA sequencing, regulation of metabolic networks, overexpression of genes that encode enzymes of interest and optimization of the cellular properties of the microorganism are used. Herein, a review on the current status of furfuryl alcohol and furoic acid production from furfural by heterogeneous catalysis and biocatalysis has been studied. The stability, selectivity and activity of catalystsalong with the different furfural oxidation and reduction conditions have been pointed out. Additionally, the main enzymes, microorganisms and mechanism involved in the furfural degradation process have also been discussed.

Diverse molecular markers have been used to analyze the genetic diversity of plant pathogens. Compared with traditional fingerprinting methods, multiple loci variable number of tandem repeat analyses (MLVAs) have gained importance recently due to their reproducibility, high discriminatory power, ease of performance, low cost, and throughput potential. These characteristics are desirable for continuous pathogen monitoring, especially for pathogens with relatively low genetic diversity, and for disease epidemiology studies. Genetic diversity studies of Xanthomonas phaseoli pv. manihotis, which is the causal agent of cassava bacterial blight, have shown variability and changes in the bacterial population over time. Thus, an easy and fast method needs to be developed to type populations of this pathogen in different countries of the world, especially on small scales. In this study, we developed an MLVA scheme to analyze X. phaseoli pv. manihotis variability on a local scale. The MLVA-15 scheme comprises 15 variable number of tandem repeat loci grouped into four multiplex polymerase chain reaction pools. We showed that the MLVA-15 scheme had slightly higher discriminatory ability at the locality level when compared with amplified fragment length polymorphisms. The MLVA-15 scheme allowed for an accurate determination of the number of genotypes in the sample and showed reproducibility and portability. Additionally, this scheme could be used to analyze numerous strains in a reasonable timeframe. The MLVA-15 scheme was highly specific to X. phaseoli but up to eight tandem repeat loci could be amplified from other Xanthomonas spp. Finally, we assessed the utility of the scheme for analyses of X. phaseoli pv. manihotis genetic variability in the Colombian Caribbean region. MLVA-15 distinguished 88.9% of the haplotypes in our sample. Strains originating from the same field and isolated at the same time could be discriminated. In this study, the advantages of the MLVA-15 scheme targeting 6- or 7-bp repeats were demonstrated. Moreover, this scheme was a fast method that was appropriate for routine monitoring of X. phaseoli pv. manihotis populations on a local scale and, thus, was useful for addressing epidemiological questions.

The genus Mucuna is a potential protein source, but it has been underutilized due to the presence of antinutritional factors, especially L-DOPA. Solid-state fermentation with lactic acid bacteria could be an effective and simple method for reducing these antinutritional factors while simultaneously enriching the protein content. In this work, an experimental analysis identified the variables with the greatest influence on the solid-state fermentation of Mucuna deeringiana. In general, we observed a decrease in pH due to the production of and increase in lactic acid, resulting in a 91% (6.40 to 0.55 g/100 g sample) reduction in L-DOPA, 51% decrease in phenolic compounds (11.65 to 5.70 g/100 g sample), 97% decrease in tannins (1.26 to 0.04 g/100 g sample), and the antioxidant capacity of the fermented flour was 97%, with an increase in protein content of 12%. Furthermore, it demonstrated greater stability over 24 days compared to the control samples, which remained stable for only 3 days. These results suggest that the bacterium has a positive effect on the production of lactic acid, and the nutritional composition can be enhanced by reducing antinutritional factors, especially L-DOPA, that limit the use of this legume. This process proves to be a cost-effective and sustainable method for developing nutritious feed products derived from Mucuna flours.

The taxonomic identification of species through analysis of the variation of orthologous DNA sequences, complement the information obtained with morphological characters. Cytogenetic studies indicate that polyploid taxa occur in the subfamily Opuntioideae, Opuntia ficus-indica, contributing to morphological variability in the individuals of a population, and influencing the correct identification of species. However, the lengths of the sequences in Opuntioideae are affected by the extraction of pure DNA. Different extraction methods were evaluated and modified, and a procedure was established to obtain good quality DNA, free of inhibitors for gene amplification by polymerase chain reaction. The ratio A260/A280 and A260/A230 ranged from 1.6 to 2.1, revealing absence of contamination with the modified protocol for DNA extraction from cotton leaves. This method is inexpensive compared to those of commercial manufacturers and, therefore, can be applied in studies with limited resources.

Background: The growing demand for foods such as corn or soy has favored the study and implementation of biotechnologies that use agroindustrial waste and transform them so that they can be used to obtain alternative diets for animals with a high biological value. Objective: To increase the feed value of sugarcane bagasse through fermentation with probiotic microorganisms under solid-state conditions. Methodology: A diet based on by-products of sugarcane bagasse harvest treated by solid-state fermentation (SSF) was prepared. The fibrous material was collected, dried, ground, and mixed in a proportion of 1.0 and 2.0 inclusion with alfalfa flour (1.5), molasses (0.25), sodium sulfate (0.05), calcium carbonate (0.05), mineralized salt (0.05), urea (0.15), microbial preparation (0.25), and potato (6.7 or 5.7, respectively). The prepared feed was subjected to FES and evaluated by compositional and microbiological analysis. The effect of the percentage of sugarcane bagasse inclusion on obtaining dry matter, humidity, ash, ethereal extracts, crude protein, neutral and acid detergent fiber, organic matter and in situ digestibility of dry matter was analyzed. Results: The inclusion percentage significantly affects the production of ash (7.23 and 6.63%, respectively), crude protein (16.3 and 14.1%, respectively), organic matter (92.7 and 93.3%, respectively), and in situ digestibility (74.6 and 63.8, respectively). The microbiological analysis determined that the count of lactic acid bacteria and aerobic mesophiles increased with fermentation time; no growth of molds, yeasts, or Salmonella was observed. Implications: Solid-state fermentation proves its value as a sustainable strategy, a cost-effective alternative, and an easily applicable approach for the utilization and valorization of agroindustrial waste by incorporating it into functional diets for sheep. Conclusion: Under the conditions of this study, it was demonstrated that the biological value of sugarcane bagasse can be effectively increased through solid- state fermentation when combined with other raw materials, making it a viable component in formulating diets for sheep.