Our latest research “From waste to high-value nitrogen: Optimizing and validating direct nitrogen stripping from anaerobic digestate for sustainable microbial protein production” by Antonella Scotto di Uccio, Silvio Matassa, Alessandra Cesaro, Francesco Pirozzi, Giovanni Esposito, and Stefano Papirio has been published!
The study optimized a zero-chemical, low-temperature direct air stripping process to recover nitrogen from anaerobic digestate and reuse it for microbial protein production from cheese whey permeate. Contextually, an investigation on the impact of heavy metals in digestate on biomass growth and microbial protein quality was also performed. Interestingly, thanks to the application of the stripping process, it was possible to achieve an almost complete removal of ammonium nitrogen under batch conditions and a removal up to 61 % of the initial value under continuous conditions.
This work represents a key step towards sustainable nitrogen recovery and circular protein production, contributing to the MedInCircle vision of a greener, resource-efficient future.
Read the paper here https://lnkd.in/eRmjstWh
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.127890