Laboratory and pilot-scale phosphate and ammonium removal by controlled struvite precipitation following coagulation and flocculation of swine wastewater.

To reduce the suspended solids load to a trickling filter installation, raw swine effluent was pre-treated with ferric chloride and a cationically charged polyacrylamide coagulant resulting in unexpected struvite accumulation downstream of this post-separation process. Using this pre-treated swine manure, struvite precipitation studies were carried out as a function of pH at laboratory and pilot batch and continuously operated scales. An optimal reaction time of 30 min was established for struvite precipitation in the pre-treated swine wastewater at pH 8.5, minimizing the co-precipitation of interfering minerals. Ferric chloride addition resulted in magnesium solubilization, such that no external additional source of magnesium was required for struvite formation. Aeration alone did not result in significant pH increases, so base addition was required for pH adjustment. X-ray diffraction revealed that the only crystalline phase produced was struvite. Removal of phosphate and ammonium attained 98% and 17% respectively in laboratory scale experiments. At the pilot-scale, removal attained 99% and 15% of phosphate and ammonium in both batch and continuously HRT = 1h) operated reactors.

Inhibition of Listeria innocua in cheddar cheese by addition of nisin Z in liposomes or by in situ production in mixed culture.

The effect of addition of purified nisin Z in liposomes to cheese milk and of in situ production of nisin Z by Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis biovar diacetylactis UL719 in the mixed starter on the inhibition of Listeria innocua in cheddar cheese was evaluated during 6 months of ripening. A cheese mixed starter culture containing Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis biovar diacetylactis UL719 was selected for high-level nisin Z and acid production. Experimental cheddar cheeses were produced on a pilot scale, using the selected starter culture, from milk with added L. innocua (10(5) to 10(6) CFU/ml). Liposomes with purified nisin Z were prepared from proliposome H and added to cheese milk prior to renneting to give a final concentration of 300 IU/g of cheese. The nisin Z-producing strain and nisin Z-containing liposomes did not significantly affect cheese production and gross chemical composition of the cheeses. Immediately after cheese production, 3- and 1.5-log-unit reductions in viable counts of L. innocua were obtained in cheeses with encapsulated nisin and the nisinogenic starter, respectively. After 6 months, cheeses made with encapsulated nisin contained less than 10 CFU of L. innocua per g and 90% of the initial nisin activity, compared with 10(4) CFU/g and only 12% of initial activity in cheeses made with the nisinogenic starter. This study showed that encapsulation of nisin Z in liposomes can provide a powerful tool to improve nisin stability and inhibitory action in the cheese matrix while protecting the cheese starter from the detrimental action of nisin during cheese production.