Abstract
Lignins are complex phenolic polymers that can be found in trees and agricultural crops asan abundant and renewable vegetable resource. Due to their very complex structure,lignins are classified as three-dimensional amorphous polymers with several importantchemical functional groups such as hydroxyl among others. The potential of use of ligninsis gaining attention as a product that can bring health benefits and new industrialapplications.Our group have been isolated a Penicillium strain from soil samples of a salt mine inPortugal. This halotolerant strain was characterized and identified as a new strain ofPenicillium chrysogenum var. halophenolicum showing a high capacity to degradearomatic compounds under osmotic pressure (Leitão et al., 2007 and 2011).In the present study, degradation and stabilization of the alkali lignin by Penicilliumchrysogenum was investigated in batch system under aerobic conditions. Atomic forcemicroscopy and dynamic light scattering were used to follow the changes of ligninstructure during bioprocessing. Further undergoing studies will explore the potential of thishalotolerant Penicillium strain on food field.
| Original language | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Volume | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2011 |
