Lignocellulosic agricultural byproducts are a copious and cheap source for cellulose fibers. Agro-based biofibers have the composition, properties and structure that make them suitable for uses such as composite, textile, pulp and paper manufacture. In addition, biofibers can also be used to produce fuel, chemicals, enzymes and food. Byproducts produced from the cultivation of corn, wheat, rice...

for about a decade the virtual water trade has been highlighted as a means of promoting water efficiency and helping to solve regional restrictions of water resources in order to provide water and food security. although these tools are not just for certain areas of the world with a specific climate, they are more important for countries which are faced with water resources restriction and cris...

In industrial districts social norms are as important as formal institutions in coordinating actors’ behaviour. While the literature on agro-industrial districts has generally stressed the role of trust, the paper states that power can be as effective as trust in solving coordination problems stemming from contract incompleteness and opportunistic behaviours. The paper presents the results of a...

The all-trans-β-carotene is a natural pigment used in various industrial fields (food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, etc) and possesses the higher provitamin A activity, in respect to other carotenoids. All-trans-β-carotene is produced industrially by chemical and biotechnological means. For β-carotene biotechnological production in industrial scale mated cultures of Blakeslea trispora, a heterot...

Agronomic N-use efficiency is the basis for economic and environmental efficiency, and an effective agro-ecosystem management practice, improving nutrient use efficiency, is a crucial challenge for a more sustainable production of horticultural, industrial and cereal crops. However, discrepancy between theory and practice still exists, coming from large gaps in knowledge on net-N immobilization...

Membrane distillation (MD) and osmotic distillation (OD) are emerging athermal processing techniques of great interest in agro-food production where the most part of products is sensitive to thermal treatments. With respect to conventional methods, MD and OD are competitive alternatives, able to work in an environmental-friendly and cost-efficient way, for preserving the nutritional and sensori...