Currently, chemical dishwashing liquids are among the most commonly used cleaning products in households due to their convenience, rapid effectiveness, and low cost. Although chemical dishwashing liquids provide significant cleaning efficiency, they pose many potential risks to human health and the environment, particularly aquatic environments. This is because industrial dishwashing liquids are mostly formulated from water combined with various chemical components such as LAS, SLS, NaOH, SLES, MgSO₄, NH₄Cl, acids, alkalis, fragrances, formaldehyde, and the antibacterial agent triclosan (Adelliya, 2021). These substances can cause numerous health problems with frequent exposure, including the risk of irritant dermatitis. Moreover, if not thoroughly rinsed off, residues may remain on dishes and enter the body, leading to serious health impacts on users, especially pregnant homemakers. In addition, when discharged into the environment, industrial dishwashing liquids contribute to environmental pollution and harm aquatic organisms (Hong-Yan et al., 2009). Given these concerns, the replacement of industrial dishwashing liquids with environmentally friendly alternatives has become increasingly necessary.
The fermentation of coconut is a complex biological process in which microorganisms convert sugars in coconut water into products such as alcohols, organic acids, and flavor compounds. Coconut enzyme is fermented coconut water produced by a microbial system. Due to its organic acid content and synergistic combination with natural ingredients—including coconut ash water (for odor removal), coconut essential oil extract (cocamidopropyl betaine source), coco glucoside (foaming agent), guar gum (thickener), baking soda (NaHCO₃), and table salt (NaCl)—the formulation offers effective cleaning, skin moisturization, and safety for children and individuals with sensitive skin.
Enzyme immobilization offers an innovative approach for reuse, preservation, and optimization of production efficiency and costs in the food and biofuel industries. In this study, amylase enzymes immobilized in Ca-alginate membranes were utilized in the fermentation of traditional sticky rice wine. The morphology and activity of immobilized amylase beads were maintained effectively at a 2% concentration of both carrier material and enzyme solution. After seven days of fermentation, fermentation efficiency reached an ethanol concentration of 55% v/v. The activity of immobilized amylase retained 60% of its activity after four consecutive fermentation cycles. These results suggest that immobilized amylase beads have promising applications in sticky rice wine production, replacing free amylase, which is difficult to recover and reuse.
Dragon fruit-based wine is a value-added product that enhances the value of domestic agricultural products, especially for those facing challenges in raw form export. In this study, Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells were immobilized using the Ca-alginate carrier for assessing the influence of Na-alginate and CaCl2 concentrations on the quality of immobilized Ca-alginate beads during wine fermentation. A repeated fermentation study was conducted to determine the efficiency and stability of immobilized beads in dragon fruit-based wine fermentation. The results indicated that the immobilized Ca-alginate beads exhibited good fermentation efficiency with 3% Na-alginate and 2% CaCl2 concentrations. Moreover, the fermentation efficiency was maintained through at least four fermentation cycles. The immobilized yeast cells contributed to the production of wine with favorable qualities in terms of color and taste, meeting the standards in laboratory-scale TCVN 3215-79. These findings underscore the potential of cell immobilization technology using Ca-alginate carriers in the fermentation process of dragon fruit- based wine. This technology significantly enhances the value and diversifies the range of Vietnamese agricultural products, mainly dragon fruit
Declining supplies of fossil fuels, increasing population, global industrialization and demand for transportation fuels has triggered an increase in the demand for renewable energy sources. To address such problems most of the green research in the recent years has focused on the development of bioethanol (23 MJ/L) as a substitute to conventional gasoline (34.3 MJ/L) based fuels owing to the similarity in energy density values in addition to several other advantages (American Council on renewable energy, 2010). Second-generation biofuels are derived from lignocellulosic biomass or woody crops, mostly coming from agricultural residues. Extraction of fuel from such biomass is difficult because of their recalcitrant nature (corn stover, rice straw, wheat straw, sugar cane and sweet sorghum). Lignocellulosic fuel has the potential to solve several problems (food competing with fuel) that are currently associated with first generation biofuels. Moreover, lignocellulosic fuels can supply a larger proportion of the global fuel leading to sustainability at lower cost, and with greater environmental benefits (Liz Marsall, 2009). The production of ethanol from the complex sugars in leaves and stalks is a promising strategy to radically broaden the range of possible ethanol feedstock.
Keywords: lignocellulose, bioethanol, biomass, pretreatment, hydrolysis, fermentation.