The Research and Postgraduate Centre congratulates a master’s student, Woo Wen Xuan (first author), and Asst. Prof. Dr. Tan Jian Ping (corresponding author) from the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering for their recent publication in Industrial Crops and Products, an SCI Tier-1 journal that focuses on cultivated plants of industrial interest (non-food, non-feed) with the latest impact factor of 5.9.
Entitled “Bio-based Succinic Acid Production from Durian Husk: A Rising Southeast Asia Agricultural Waste”, this technical research paper was conducted in collaboration with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yeap Swee Keong and Dr. Hui Yew Woh from the China-ASEAN College of Marine Sciences, Xiamen University Malaysia.
The research paper explores the utilization of durian husk as an alternative and sustainable feedstock for the production of bio-based succinic acid. Fermentability tests on the durian husk hydrolysates demonstrated yields of succinic acid that are comparable to other biomass. Meanwhile, the authors proposed a stoichiometry equation to describe the formation of substrate and all products, which serves as a valuable reference for future investigations into succinic acid production reactions. Finally, the research evaluates the cost-effectiveness of succinic acid production and its environmental performance, highlighting the promising potential of durian husk as a feedstock. This innovative study showcases the promising prospect of utilizing agricultural waste to produce valuable bio-based chemicals.
This research is supported by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia through the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), project number “FRGS/1/2020/TK0/XMU/03/2″. This research is also supported by Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), project number “TDF0721141″ and Xiamen University Research Fund (XMUMRF), project number XMUMRF/2022-C10/IENG/0047.
This study is additionally supported by the Denmark listed company, Novozymes, which supplies the enzyme Cellic CTec 3 utilized in the current research.
