Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering

Filamentous Fungi Biorefinery, the latest release in the Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering series, builds on knowledge on the classification of filamentous fungi and presence and roles played in ecosystems. The importance of filamentous fungi is then further corroborated through a description of their present applications in biotechnological processes. Knowledge on fungal biology is extended through discussion on structure and composition together with a description of growth potentialities of filamentous fungi in/on a wide range of substrates. In addition, the morphology of filamentous fungi is then described and its implications during integration in industrial processes is discussed. The book then provides an overview on the use of filamentous fungi for the production of a wide range of value-added products, including feed and food products, alcohols, organic acids, pigments, enzymes, antibiotics and biopolymers. All provided state-of-arts are extended to a description of the present degree of application of filamentous fungi towards the production of those products using low-value substrates, identification of research gaps, and proposes future research avenues.

1. Introduction (world of fungi and fungi ecosystem) 2. Fungal biotechnology 3. Fungal biology 4. Mycotoxins 5. Sampling, preservation, and growth monitoring of filamentous fungi 6. Wastes, residuals, and wastewaters as feedstocks for filamentous fungi growth 7. Filamentous fungi morphology in industrial aspects 8. Bioreactors and engineering of filamentous fungi cultivation 9. Filamentous fungi processing by solid-state fermentation 10. Production of enzymes by filamentous fungi 11. Production of bioactive compounds by filamentous fungi 12. Filamentous fungi for food 13. Filamentous fungi for feed 14. Production of alcohols by filamentous fungi 15. Production of organic acids by filamentous fungi 16. Production of antibiotics by filamentous fungi 17. Biopolymers from filamentous fungi 18. Versatility of filamentous fungi in novel processes