Biomedical technique will be used to make the sugarcane fermentation process more efficient

Using a technique used in laboratory examinations of human beings, a group of researchers from the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture of the University of São Paulo (Esalq-USP) intends to improve the fermentation process of sugarcane biomass that generates ethanol.

“Bacteria and other microorganisms often interrupt the fermentation process. This implies enormous losses of ethanol, which can reach 5% of the approximately 30 billion liters produced per year in Brazil”, says agronomist Carlos Alberto Labate, professor at Esalq-USP.

The project will be developed over three years within the scope of the Research Center for Innovation in Greenhouse Gases (RCGI), an Engineering Research Center (CPE) constituted by FAPESP and Shell at the USP Polytechnic School.

In the study, researchers will use Maldi-TOF MS, an acronym in English for Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization Time-of-Light Mass Spectrometry, a device that evaluates the structures of proteins found in cell membranes.

“It is a technology discovered in the 1990s, but around 15 years ago it began to be used in laboratory tests for patients admitted to Intensive Care Units [ICU] with serious, life-threatening infections. These are people who cannot wait for the results of the common bacterial culture test, which takes a long time”, says Labate. “With Maldi-TOF MS, the result of analyzing a small sample of the patient’s blood comes out in about 15 minutes.”

According to the expert, the technique consists of using a laser beam with power to fragment the proteins present in the membranes of bacteria and fungi into smaller pieces and thus trace their amino acids.

“In the medical field, the mass spectra of peptides are immediately compared to more than 8 thousand types of bacterial species gathered in a database created by the device manufacturer”, explains the professor.

Around five years ago, the researcher began using this equipment at the Plant Genetics Laboratory, which he heads at Esalq-USP, with the aim of analyzing the industrial fermentation of sugar cane. Since then, the laboratory team has been developing a database from samples collected at Raízen plants. “The idea is to identify the microorganisms that are in the fermentation vats and carry out a survey of that content”, he comments.

Throughout the project, the researchers intend to expand this database. Collections will be carried out at two Raízen plants, located in Piracicaba and Rafard, both in the interior of São Paulo. “Based on the data collected in the field, we will train an artificial intelligence program so that it can identify which are the best metabolic markers for fermentation. This information will form the machine's repertoire”, says Labate, who adds: “During the project we will monitor three sugarcane harvests. And this is great, because the more information we obtain, the better it will be for the computational system. ”

With this information in hand, the researchers will move on to another stage of the project: developing sensors, through a partnership with the private sector, which will be installed in fermentation vats. “These sensors will work online, autonomously, sending data in real time to the software improved by our team. This artificial intelligence will then record all the information, such as, for example, an abnormal increase in the number of bacteria in fermentation, and thus generate decision-making to assist the plant's technicians”, explains the professor.