Date of Graduation
5-2008
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Biological Engineering
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Advisor/Mentor
Not available
Abstract
The world is actively looking for technology to produce sustainable liquid fuels to replace our reliance on petroleum-based fuels. Biomass can be converted either through the thermochemical or saccharification platforms into fuels such as ethanol or butanol. In addition to converting the biomass into liquid fuels, valuable phytochemicals can be extracted prior, during, or after the conversion. Extracting useful phytochemicals, as a part of the overall conversion of biomass to fuels, is included in the concept of the biobased biorefinery. However, the key to effectively and economically extract phytochemicals from biomass is the ability to couple the extraction to the energy conversion steps; that is, extraction with either dilute acid or water. Phytochemical extraction with organic solvents cannot be easily coupled with an energy conversion process because the solvents must be removed before proceeding to energy conversion, thereby complicating and increasing the cost of the process. By extracting the phytochemicals with water or dilute acid, a simple unit operation can be added to the existing biomass conversion technology, ultimately adding value to the biomass.
Keywords
Pressurize hot water extraction; value-added compounds; silibinin; reactive oxygen species
Citation
Abbott, J., Wallace, S., Clausen, E., & Carrier, D. (2008). The Effect of Water Extracted Silibinin on Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Production of Macrophages. Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/baeguht/32
