Processing biomass

• US 9,745,609 B2
• Filed: 06/25/2015
• Issued: 08/29/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Xyleco, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Xyleco, Inc.
• Inventors: Medoff, Marshall
• Primary Examiner(s): Tate, Chris R
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kosar, Aaron J
• Application Number:
  US14/750,995
• Publication Number:
  US 20150353974A1
• Time in Patent Office: 796 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: A23K 10/12 by fermentation of natural products, e.g. of vegetable material, animal waste material or biomass
• CPC Class Codes: A23K 10/30 from material of plant origin, e.g. roots, seeds or hay; from material of fungal origin, e.g. mushrooms obtained by microbiological or biochemical processes, e.g. using yeasts or enzymes, A23K10/10
• CPC Class Codes: A23K 10/37 from waste material from hydrolysates of wood or straw A23K10/32; from molasses A23K10/33
• CPC Class Codes: A23K 20/163 Sugars; Polysaccharides
• CPC Class Codes: A23K 40/00 Shaping or working-up of animal feeding-stuffs
• CPC Class Codes: A23K 50/10 for ruminants
• CPC Class Codes: A23K 50/80 for aquatic animals, e.g. fish, crustaceans or molluscs
• CPC Class Codes: A23L 5/36 using irradiation with frequencies of more than 10 MHz
• CPC Class Codes: A23L 7/115 Cereal fibre products, e.g. bran, husk
• CPC Class Codes: A23V 2002/00 Food compositions, function of food ingredients or processes for food or foodstuffs
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 8/9789 Magnoliopsida [dicotyledons]
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 31/04 Antibacterial agents
• CPC Class Codes: A61Q 19/00 Preparations for care of the skin
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 39/18 the material being cellulose or derivatives thereof cork or peat B01D39/1646 ; making filter paper D21F11/14
• CPC Class Codes: C08H 8/00 Macromolecular compounds derived from lignocellulosic materials pretreatment thereof B27N
• CPC Class Codes: C08J 3/28 Treatment by wave energy or particle radiation
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 1/02 Cellulose; Modified cellulose
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 5/14 Hemicellulose; Derivatives thereof
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 13/04 Alpha- or beta- amino acids other amino acids C12P13/005
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 13/06 Alanine; Leucine; Isoleucine; Serine; Homoserine
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 13/08 : Lysine; Diaminopimelic acid; Threonine; Valine
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 13/12 : Methionine; Cysteine; Cystine
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 13/14 : Glutamic acid; Glutamine
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 13/20 : Aspartic acid; Asparagine
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 13/222 : Phenylalanine
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 13/227 : Tryptophan
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 13/24 : Proline; Hydroxyproline; Histidine
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 19/02 : Monosaccharides 2-ketogulonic acid C12P7/60
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 19/14 : produced by the action of a carbohydrase (EC 3.2.x), e.g. by alpha-amylase , e.g. by cellulase, hemicellulase
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 19/44 : Preparation of O-glycosides, e.g. glucosides polysaccharides and not substituted disaccharides C12P19/04, C12P19/12
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 2201/00 : Pretreatment of cellulosic or lignocellulosic material for subsequent enzymatic treatment or hydrolysis
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 2203/00 : Fermentation products obtained from optionally pretreated or hydrolyzed cellulosic or lignocellulosic material as the carbon source
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 7/10 : substrate containing cellulosic material
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 7/16 : Butanols
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 7/40 : containing a carboxyl group including Peroxycarboxylic acids
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 7/46 : Dicarboxylic acids having four or less carbon atoms, e.g. fumaric acid, maleic acid
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 7/56 : Lactic acid
• CPC Class Codes: C13K 1/02 : obtained by saccharification of cellulosic materials manufacture of fodder A23K10/32
• CPC Class Codes: D21C 5/005 : Treatment of cellulose-containing material with microorganisms or enzymes
• CPC Class Codes: D21C 9/001 : Modification of pulp properties purification D21C9/08
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 40/818 : Alternative feeds for fish, e.g. in aquacultures
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 50/10 : Biofuels, e.g. bio-diesel
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 50/30 : Fuel from waste, e.g. synthetic alcohol or diesel
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 60/87 : Re-use of by-products of food processing for fodder production

Abstract

Biomass (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, microbial, and municipal waste biomass) is processed to produce useful products, such as food products and amino acids.

Claims

1. A method of producing an amino acid, the method comprising:

providing a processed biomass comprising cellulose, hemicellulose, starch or combinations thereof, the processed biomass having a recalcitrance level lower than a recalcitrance level of the same biomass that has not undergone processing,

wherein the level of recalcitrance is determined by saccharifying in the presence of a cellulase,

wherein the processed biomass is prepared by irradiating the biomass with an electron beam radiation of at least 5 Mrad under suitable conditions so as to produce polysaccharides of molecular weight 5-200 kD; and

incubating the processed biomass with a microorganism for a suitable period of time to produce the amino acid.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the amino acid is selected from the group consisting of _L-amino acids and _D-amino acids.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the microorganism is selected from the group consisting of Lactobacillus, Streptococcus lactis, E. coli, Bacillus subtillis, and Corynebacterium glutamicum.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the biomass comprises a cellulosic or lignocellulosic material.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the biomass comprises a material selected from the group consisting of okra seed, Lipinus mutabilis, nuts, Jessenia bataua, Oenocarpus, Stokesia laevis, Veronia galamensis, and Apodanthera undulate.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the biomass has been irradiated at a dose rate of from about 1 Mrad/s to about 10 Mrad/s.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising converting the processed biomass to glucose and biosynthesizing the aromatic amino acids tryptophan, phenylalanine, and tyrosine from the glucose through the shikimic acid pathway.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising isolating the amino acid.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising combining the isolated amino acid with an excipient.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein incubating is carried out using a fed-batch fermentation process.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the amino acid is selected from the group consisting of _L-glutamic acid (monosodium glutamate (MSG)), _L-aspartic acid, _L-phenylalanine, _L-lysine, _L-threonine, _L-tryptophan, _L-leucine, _L-isoleucine, _L-methionine, _L-histidine, and _L-phenylalanine, and _DL-methionine.