Innovations in Biotechnology for a Sustainable Future

This contributed volume compiles the latest improvements in the field of biotechnology. It focuses on topics that comprises industrial, environment, agricultural and medical related issues to technology and biological studies and exhibits the correlation between the biological world and the dependence of humans on it. The book is organized into five parts covering the role of biotechnology in industrial products, environmental remediation, agriculture and pharmacological agents. Ranging from micro-scale studies to macro, it covers a huge domain of agricultural biotechnology and focuses on important commercial crops (e.g. cacao and coffee), arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, flow and distribution of phosphorus in agricultural soils in the Latin American region. Overall, the book portrays the importance of modern biotechnology and its role in solving the problems in modern day life. The book is a ready reference for practicing students, researchers of environmental engineering, chemical engineering, agricultural engineering, and other allied fields likewise.

1. Introduction.- 2. Biotechnology of 21st Century.- 3. Considerations on the Scaling of biological and chemical reactors.- 4. Design of a cultivation media for the production of metabolites with practical application in the biodegradation of industrial dyes.- 5. Obtaining and characterizing new biomaterials based on starch, for use in the food and health industry.- 6. Influence of immersion time in pitahaya (Hylocereus undatus) proteolytic enzyme solutions on the texture of bovine meat.- 7. Determination of free amino acids in fermented and toasted cocoa (Theobroma cacao) samples, using high performance liquid chromatography with UV detection by diode arrangement.- 8. Characterization of cassava and bee wax residues for their use in the obtaining of bioplastic.- 9. Development of a thermoplastic material from the residues of the banana (Musa paradisiaca).- 10. Chemical ecology and its role in the conservation of threatened species: a case study in the Galapagos islands.- 11. Energy evaluation of solid biofuels made from mixtures of lignocellulosic biomass.- 12. Reforestation and conservation of vegetable germ plasm: challenges and expectations.- 13. Characterization of Moniliophthora roreri evans and evaluation of biological control alternatives in cacao (Theobroma cacao), for the Ecuadorian amazon.- 14. Application of biotechnology to the search and selection of PGPR in the control of phytosanitary problems in cocoa (Theobroma cacao) and banana (Musa acuminata).- 15. Sustainability of organic quinoa cultivation (Chenopodium quinoa) in communities of colta Ecuador.- 16. Effects of artificial light intensity and temperature on the growth of lettuce (Lactuca sativa l.) in a vertical urban farm in low cost indoor.- 17. Efficiency of led lights in the propagation and field of summer flowers in Ecuador.- 18. Evaluation of extraction methods to obtain a natural flocculant from the tamarind seed (Tamarindus indica).- 19. Bicomponent adsorption of Brilliant blue FCF and tartrazine under dynamic conditions using rice husk.- 20. Kinetic approach to the biocoagulation process of mixtures of Moringa oleífera and Caesalpinia spinosa in synthetic turby water.- 21. Sustainable alternatives in the treatment of liquid industrial waste.- 22. Biodegradation of industrial dyes with enzymatic extracts obtained in FES and FEL systems with Pleurotus djamor.- 23. Removal of petroleum hydrocarbons from medium and soil (lab & field conditions) by microorganisms isolated from the Ecuadorian amazon rainforest.- 24. Chemistry of natural products.- 25. Evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of natural extracts of altamisa (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) and melissa (Melissa officinallis) for the control of pathogenic agents.- 26. Phenolic compounds of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) shell extraction and antimicrobial activity.- 27. Susceptibility to antimicrobials in strains of environmental origin, a public health problem.- 28. Inhibition effect of oregano (Origanum vulgare) essentialoil on an active biodegradable film.- 29. Current Challenges and Future Prospective of Biotechnology.