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.

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.

Coumarins are heterocyclic compounds with diverse biological activities and potential applications as alternative acaricidal agents. In this study, nine coumarin derivatives were synthesized through a solvent-free Pechmann reaction using Preyssler heteropolyacid as a reusable catalyst under green chemistry conditions. The synthesized compounds were evaluated against adult females of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus using the adult immersion test. Survival analysis was performed using the Cox proportional hazard model, while molecular docking studies were carried out on triosephosphate isomerase (TIM). In addition, post hoc analysis of the structures predicted to be most active by the QSAR model suggested an association between higher predicted activity, the presence of hydroxyl groups, and the polarity of C7 side chains, although the topological descriptor identified by the model does not admit a direct physicochemical interpretation. The results showed that hydroxylated coumarins, particularly those substituted at C5 and C7, exhibited the highest acaricidal activity, with IC₅₀ values between 7.24 and 8.78 mg/mL. Docking analysis suggested plausible interactions with residues located at the TIM interface cavity, mainly Lys-112, Asn-65, and Glu-77. The QSAR model indicated that hydroxyl substitution and side-chain polarity contributed positively to activity. This study integrates Preyssler heteropolyacid-catalyzed green synthesis of coumarins with Cox proportional hazard survival modeling, TIM molecular docking, and QSAR analysis within a single acaricidal evaluation against R. (B.) microplus, providing a multi-pronged framework for prioritizing structural modifications in future coumarin-based acaricide development.