Intensified process for the simultaneous recovery of chitosan and β-glucan from fungal biomass (FungiWave)

Currently, fungal biomass streams, e.g. mycelium, generated as a by-product in fermentation processes, are solely used as animal feed. However, various fungal species are known to contain significant concentrations of chitin and β-glucan, which represent a large market value in different applications. The aim of this project is to further develop and optimize a novel extraction process, which enables the simultaneous recovery of chitosan and β-glucan from fungal biomass. Different steps in the process are intensified via microwave and ultrasound application, allowing to limit the process temperature, chemicals consumption and duration to a large extent. The process will be optimized for different types of fungal biomass. Additionally, the recovered chitosan and B-glucan will be characterized in terms of composition and structural properties to allow an assessment of their possible applications and market value.

Keywords:Mycelium, Chitosan, β-glucan, Ultrasound, Microwave

Disciplines:Chemical process design, Intensification, Sustainable and environmental engineering not elsewhere classified