The Potential of Brewer’s Spent Grain in the Circular Bioeconomy: State of the Art and Future Perspectives
Anđela Zeko-Pivač, Marina Tišma, Polona Žnidaršič‐Plazl, Biljana Kulišić, George Sakellaris, Jian Hao +1 more
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
Abstract
Brewer's spent grain (BSG) accounts for approximately 85% of the total mass of solid by-products in the brewing industry and represents an important secondary raw material of future biorefineries. Currently, the main application of BSG is limited to the feed and food industry. There is a strong need to develop sustainable pretreatment and fractionation processes to obtain BSG hydrolysates that enable efficient biotransformation into biofuels, biomaterials, or biochemicals. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive insight into the availability of BSG, chemical properties, and current and potential applications juxtaposed with the existing and emerging markets of the pyramid of bio-based products in the context of sustainable and circular bioeconomy. An economic evaluation of BSG for the p