Processing biomass

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9803222-B2
Application number	US-201514813898-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2015
Priority date	Apr 30, 2008
Publication date	Oct 31, 2017
Grant date	Oct 31, 2017

Abstract

Biomass (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, microbial, and municipal waste biomass) is processed to produce useful products, such as food products and amino acids.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An animal food product comprising effective amounts of:
(i) a comminuted recalcitrance reduced feedstock in densified form suitable for ingestion by an animal, and combined with
(ii) at least one isolated enzyme,
wherein the feedstock is selected from the group of plant products consisting of lignocellulosic plant materials, cellulosic waste materials, lignocellulosic waste materials, and mixtures thereof,
wherein the comminuted recalcitrance reduced feedstock is obtained by treating a comminuted feedstock with an electron beam irradiation dosage of at least 5 Mrad under conditions sufficient to reduce the recalcitrance of the comminuted feedstock, and
wherein the electron beam irradiation reduces the average molecular weight of the comminuted feedstock from 200-320 kD to 10-20 kD.

2. The product of claim 1 wherein the lignocellulosic biomass comprises corn cobs and/or corn stover.

3. The product of claim 1 wherein the enzyme comprises a cellulolytic enzyme.

4. The product of claim 1 wherein the enzyme comprises a multiple enzyme cocktail.

5. The product of claim 1 wherein the enzyme is present in the animal food product at a dosage of between 5.0 and 50 Filter Paper Units (FPU or IU) per gram of cellulose in the animal food product.

6. The product of claim 1 wherein the enzyme comprises a dried enzyme.

7. The product of claim 1 wherein the enzyme comprises an enzyme requiring activation.

8. The product of claim 1 wherein the enzyme is selected from the group consisting of phytase, cellulase, lactase, lipase, pepsin, catalase, xylanase, pectinase, and mixtures thereof.

9. A method of making an animal food product, the method comprising:
(a) treating a comminuted material obtained from a collected feedstock,
wherein the feedstock is selected from the group of plant products consisting of lignocellulosic plant materials, cellulosic waste materials, lignocellulosic waste materials, and mixtures thereof,
wherein the treating comprises irradiating the comminuted material with an electron beam radiation dosage of at least 5 Mrad under conditions sufficient to reduce the recalcitrance of the comminuted material, and
wherein the electron beam irradiation reduces the average molecular weight of the comminuted material from 200-320 kD to 10-20 kD; and

(b) combining an effective amount of the treated material of step (a) with an effective amount of an isolated enzyme to obtain said animal food product.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the lignocellulosic plant material comprises corn cobs and/or corn stover.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the enzyme comprises a cellulolytic enzyme.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the enzyme comprises a multiple enzyme cocktail.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein the enzyme comprises a dried enzyme.

14. The method of claim 9 wherein the enzyme comprises an enzyme requiring activation.

15. The method of claim 9 wherein the enzyme is selected from the group consisting of phytase, cellulase, lactase, lipase, pepsin, catalase, xylanase, pectinase, and mixtures thereof.

Assignees

• Xyleco Inc

Inventors

• Medoff Marshall

Classifications

• Y02A40/818

  Alternative feeds for fish, e.g. in aquacultures · CPC title

• A61K8/9789

  Magnoliopsida [dicotyledons] · CPC title

• A61K8/9717

  Rhodophycota or Rhodophyta [red algae], e.g. Porphyra · CPC title

• A61K8/9794

  Liliopsida [monocotyledons] · CPC title

• A61K8/9728

  Fungi, e.g. yeasts · CPC title