Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Food and Bioproducts Processing

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fbp

Valorization of spent coffee grounds: A review

Adriana Kovalcik a,∗ , Stanislav Obruca a , Ivana Marova a,b

a Department of Food Chemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology, Purkynova
118, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic
b Materials Research Centre, Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology, Purkynova 118, 612 00 Brno,

Czech Republic

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Spent coffee grounds (SCGs) arise as waste products through the production of instant cof-
Received 19 December 2017 fee and coffee brewing. This work reviews the composition of SCGs, the methods used for
Received in revised form 5 May 2018 the isolation of individual compounds present in SCGs, the ways of utilizing SCGs presented
Accepted 14 May 2018 in the literature so far, including use of SCGs’ bioactive compounds, carbohydrates, oil frac-
Available online 22 May 2018 tion, as well as SCGs as the whole composite without treatment or with some physical and
chemical modifications. However, this work mainly focuses on biotechnological processing
Keywords: of SCG hydrolysates and the reason why the fermentable sugars present in SCG hydrolysates
Biorefinery cannot support sufficiently the growth of bacteria or yeasts. The reason is basically the pres-
Biotechnology ence of toxic co-contaminants, which have antibacterial properties. One suggestion for how
Detoxification to lower the presence of such co-contaminants in SCG hydrolysates is pre-extraction of them
Food or the inclusion of a detoxification step. This review suggests that the fractionation of SCGs
Polyhydroxyalkanoates and detoxification of SCG hydrolysates might contribute to increased multiple utilization of
Spent coffee grounds this waste in many industrial sectors.
© 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
2. Composition of SCG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
2.1. Oil fraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
2.2. Crude fiber and additional components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
2.3. Valorization of spent coffee grounds without any fractionation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
3. Fractionation, extraction and valorization of SCGs’ components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
3.1. Characterization, isolation, and application of minor biologically active constituents present in SCGs . . . . . . . . . . . 108
3.2. Valorization of coffee oil fractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
3.3. Valorization of carbohydrates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
3.4. Inhibitors of microbial growth and their elimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
4. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Conflict of interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

∗
Corresponding author:
E-mail address: kovalcik@fch.vut.cz (A. Kovalcik).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbp.2018.05.002
0960-3085/© 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119
1. Introduction
Coffee ranks as the second most valuable commodity in the world after
petroleum and its derivatives (Tucker, 2011). Coffee beans originate
from the coffee fruit and serve for the preparation of a popular bever-
age. In 2015 coffee consumption worldwide reached approx. 9.1 billion
kilograms (International Coffee Organization, 2016). However, the treat-
ment and processing of coffee cherries, together with the milling of
dried beans, the roasting of green coffee beans and coffee brewing,
produce each year a large volume of biowaste, which contributes to
environmental pollution. The production of instant coffee and coffee
brewing generates worldwide approx. 6 million tons of spent coffee
grounds (SCG) per year (Getachew and Chun, 2017). Recently, many
studies have focused on investigating SCGs’ composition and their sec-
ondary applications. SCGs contain polysaccharides, oligosaccharides,
lipids, aliphatic acids, amino acids, proteins, alkaloids (e.g., caffeine,
trigonelline) and phenolics, minerals, lignin, melanoidins and volatile
compounds (Mussatto et al. 2011; Pujol et al., 2013; Campos-Vega et al.,
2015). Due to their composition, SCGs possess functional properties
such as water holding capacity (WHC ∼ 5.7 g water/g dry SCGs), oil hold-
ing capacity (OHC ∼ 5.2 g oil/g dry SCGs), emulsifing activity (54.7%),
emulsion stability (92.4%) and antioxidant potential (DPPH antioxi-
dant activity ∼20.0 ␮mol TE/g dry SCGs) (Ballesteros et al., 2014). Along
with their functional properties, SCGs have been applied as adsorbers
(Castro et al., 2011) and as fillers and additives for polymer compos-
ites (Baek et al., 2013; Garcia-Garcia et al., 2015; Machado et al., 2010;
Moustafa et al., 2017a, 2017b; Wu et al., 2016; Zarrinbakhsh et al., 2016).
Due to their high nutritional value, SCGs have been tested also as a
supplement in animal feed. However, it should be noted that pheno-
lic compounds and caffeine are unpalatable above a concentration of
2.5% (Fuller, 2004; Janissen and Huynh, 2018). Among society today it is
popular to use SCGs as soil fertilizers (addition of minerals) in order to
stimulate plant growth (Cruz et al., 2014b; Liu and Price, 2011; Ribeiro
et al., 2017). However, just as for animals, caffeine and phenolics are
toxic for plants and soil microorganisms. Gomes et al. (2013) reported
that the composting of SCGs, before their application as fertilizer,
reduced their toxicity to plants probably due to the reduced amounts of
the phytotoxic compounds in SCGs. Recently, many works have pointed
out that the fractionation of SCGs may enlarge their applicability.
Namely, phenolic extractives isolated from SCGs can be used as antiox-
idants (Mussatto et al., 2012a; Xu et al., 2015; Zuorro and Lavecchia,
2013), anti-inflammatory additives (Lopez-Barrera et al., 2016), derma-
tological anti-melanogenesis agents (Huang et al., 2016), and metal
scavengers (Liu et al., 2015; Serrano-Gomez et al., 2015; Tokimoto et al.,
2005). Their oil fraction has been applied for the production of bio-
fuels (Caetano et al., 2014; Haile, 2014; Kwon et al., 2013; Liu et al.,
2017; Park et al., 2016; Vardon et al., 2013), asphalt binder rejuvena-
tors (Jalkh et al., 2017) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (Obruca et al., 2014b;
Cruz et al., 2014a). Carbohydrates present in SCGs are valuable car-
bon sources for biotechnological production of polyhydroxyalkanoates
(Obruca et al., 2015a, 2014a, 2014b), carotenoids (Petrik et al., 2014),
and bioethanol (Kwon et al., 2013). Based on the current literature, it
is clear that the use of spent coffee grounds in “white biotechnology”
is no gimmick, but the available amounts of SCGs are huge and novel
ways for creating value for them are needed. It is expected that new
and improved biotechnological processes will bring an opportunity for
increased valuable utilization of SCG. Biotechnological processing of
SCGs is usually based on the conversion of hemicelluloses and par-
tially cellulose into fermentable sugars. However, this biotechnological
usage concept requires selective separation of carbohydrates by hydrol-
ysis, which deliberate also other components, e.g., phenolics, with a
toxic influence on microorganisms. The concentration of the sugars
gained and deliberated inhibitors depends mainly on the conditions
of hydrolysis (Obruca et al., 2015b). Therefore, this review includes
the availability and sensitivity of various microorganisms utilizing fer-
mentable sugars derived from different lignocellulosic hydrolysates,
including SCG hydrolysates, and offers a list of detoxification methods.
In addition, this review shows that isolation of bioactive compounds,
which are toxic to biotechnologically relevant microorganisms, on one
105
hand may enhance the efficiency of the biotechnological processes, and
on the other hand the various isolated compounds may be secondarily
used as value-added byproducts. The concept of fractionation of SCGs
follows the idea of a bio-refinery and fulfills the principles of a circular
economy.
2. Composition of SCG
Coffee spent grounds are natural composites, the composition
of which depends on the type of coffee beans, the roast-
ing conditions and extraction process. The composition of
SCGs includes (1) an oil fraction (7.9–26.4%), (2) crude fiber
(19.7–22.1%), and (3) different components such as alkaloids,
proteins, etc. (Corrêa et al., 2014; Acevedo et al., 2013).
2.1. Oil fraction
The oil derived from SCGs has the mild special coffee odor
and has an orange or chocolate brown color. The amounts
of lipids extractable from SCGs depend on the brewing and
extraction method. Many polar solvents such as isopropanol,
ethanol, and acetone and nonpolar organic solvents such as
hexane, n-pentane, toluene, chloroform, and petroleum ether
have been tested for oil extraction. Extraction with polar sol-
vents gave lower oil yields than extraction with non-polar
organic solvents such as hexane. The reason for this might
be the competitive formation of fatty acids and carbohydrate
degradation products during extraction with polar solvents as
reported by Al-Hamamre et al. (2012), who gained an oil yield
of 15.3% with an acid value of 7.3 mgKOH /g when the dried
SCGs were extracted with hexane for 30 min in the Soxhlet
extractor. The enhancing of the extraction time into hours and
the application of a high liquid-to-solid ratio (250 mL of hex-
ane/2 g of SCG) facilitated obtaining even 26.4% of oil (Acevedo
et al., 2013). Combination of n-hexane with isopropanol (50:50)
was also reported to be beneficial for extraction of a higher
amount of oil (Haile, 2014). Besides solvent extraction, also
extraction with supercritical CO2 can be used, which brings
certain advantages such as chemical inertness, no solvent
residue, etc. (Ahangari and Sargolzaei, 2013; Couto et al., 2009;
de Melo et al., 2014). The composition of oil extracted from
SCGs slightly differs from that of extracted from raw coffee
beans, but generally coffee oil contains around 75% triacyl-
glycerols, 14% terpene esters, 5% partial acylglycerols, 1% free
fatty acids, 1.5% free sterols, 1% sterol esters and 1% polar
lipids (Nikolova-Damyanova et al., 1999). In addition to lipids,
coffee also contains volatile organic compounds such as ter-
penes and terpenoids, which show antimicrobial activity (Di
Pasqua et al., 2007). Moreover, diterpenes, namely kahweol
(Arabica), cafestol and 16-O-methylcafestol (Robusta) possess
an anti-carcinogenic activity (Acevedo et al., 2013; Cavin et al.,
2002). The antibacterial activity of coffee oil may be linked also
with its content of free fatty acids (Knapp and Melly, 1986;
McGaw et al., 2002). Huang et al. (2016) reported that the coffee
oil extracted from SCGs by supercritical extraction effectively
suppressed melanogenesis in B16F10 murine melanoma cells.
The bioactive compounds present in coffee oil can be isolated
through various methods such as a solid-liquid extraction, a
supercritical extraction, and direct saponification and the par-
ticular extraction method applied influences the composition
of the extracted oil (Acevedo et al., 2013; Andrade et al., 2012;
Akguen et al., 2014).
106 Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119
2.2. Crude fiber and additional components
Crude fiber is the lignocellulosic fraction composed of
cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin, which are mutually
interwoven. Compared to other lignocellulosic materials,
SCGs contain only a relatively small amount of cellulose (about
10 wt%) and a high content of hemicelluloses (30–40 wt%).
Cellulose consists of between several hundred and over ten
thousand d-anhydroglucose units, with three hydroxyl groups
each, and joined by 1,4-␤-d-glycosidic linkages at the C1 and
C4 position. Cellulose molecules aggregate to microfibrils and
form highly ordered (crystalline) or less ordered (amorphous)
regions. The crystalline regions of cellulose impart stiffness
and the amorphous areas provide softness and flexibility and
enable water absorption.
Hemicelluloses present in SCGs are mannans and arabino-
galactans (Bradbury and Halliday, 1990; Campos-Vega et al.,
2015; Tian et al., 2017). Mannans are composed of repeat-
ing units of a mannose linked by ␤-1,4-glycosidic linkages.
Three types of arabinogalactans exist in SCGs, but predom-
inant are arabino-3,6-galactans, which are covalently bound
to proteins (Bradbury and Halliday, 1990). Hemicelluloses, due
to their amorphous structure and hydrophilic nature, have
a high mechanical sensitivity against water and are effort-
lessly hydrolysable compared to lignin and cellulose (Rowell,
2012; Youssefian et al., 2017). The hemicellulose fraction of
SCGs can be extracted by means of superheated water extrac-
tion and used for various high-end applications, especially in
pharmaceuticals such as pre-biotic substances (Passos et al.,
2014).
Lignin is a further polymer coupled with cellulose and
hemicellulose and acts as a stabilizer against mechanical
and other internal/external biological stresses (Koshijima and
Watanabe, 2013). The portion of lignin found in green cof-
fee beans is about 3 wt% (Maia et al., 2013). However, some
works reported that the concentration of total lignin in SCGs
was around 19.8–29.8% (Pujol et al., 2013; Kwon et al., 2013).
The differences may have been due to the different origin
of the coffee beans used as well as the treatment applied.
Lignin is a three-dimensional amorphous natural polymer
consisting of phenylpropane units with carbonyl, hydroxyl,
and methoxyl substitutions and it contributes to the high
calorific value of SCGs (Limousy et al., 2013). For biotechnolog-
ical use of SCGs it is important to deliberate polysaccharides
and break them into fermentable sugars, usually through the
hydrolysis process (chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis). It is
worth noting that SCG hydrolysates, depending on the hydrol-
ysis process applied, contain a mixture of fermentable sugars
along with other admixtures such as phenolics, proteins and
melanoidins. The amount of phenolic compounds in SCGs has
been determined to be in the range of 4.6–9.9 mg/g of SCGs
or 16 to 173.3 GAE/g of SCGs (Acevedo et al., 2013; Lopez-
Barrera et al., 2016; Mussatto et al., 2012a). Table 1 shows
phenolics detected in SCG. Phenolics can be extracted from
SCGs by using polar or intermediately polar solvents, such
as ethanol or methanol mixed with deionized water. SCGs
phenolics are bioactive agents with an appreciable radical-
scavenging, oxygen radical absorbance capacity, antitumor,
anti-inflammatory, and anti-allergenic properties (Acevedo
et al., 2013; Lopez-Barrera et al., 2016; Monente et al., 2015;
Murthy and Naidu, 2012; Panusa et al., 2013; Ramalakshmi
et al., 2009). The amount of phenolics extracted depends on
the extraction method applied and the extraction conditions
(solvent type, SCGs solid/solvent ratio, exposure time and tem-
perature) (Andrade et al., 2012; Pujol et al., 2013; Severini et al.,
2017; Xu et al., 2015; Zuorro and Lavecchia, 2013).
Among the additional essential components present in
SCGs are caffeine (0.4 mg/g) (Lopez-Barrera et al., 2016), pro-
teins (10% of SCGs on a dry weight basis), amino acids
(Clarke, 2012), melanoidins, and minerals. Caffeine is a
methylxanthine alkaloid, which stimulates the central ner-
vous system. Amino acids and proteins are involved in
the formation of the flavor and color of brewed coffee
(Homma, 2008; Clarke, 2012). Melanoidins are high-molecular-
weight brown-colored pigments formed through Maillard
reaction during the roasting process (Moreira et al., 2012).
Melanoidins contribute to the antioxidant, antimicrobial,
anti-cariogenic, anti-inflammatory, antiglycative and anti-
hypertensive effects of brewed coffee. Moreira et al. (2012)
reported that melanoidins can inhibit matrix metallopro-
teases and they can modulate the bacterial population in the
colon. Even SCG water extracts have been suggested as poten-
tial new bioactive functional food ingredients due to their
antimutagenic and antimicrobial activities against e.g. gram-
positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes)
and yeast (Candida albicans) (Monente et al., 2015). In addition
to organic compounds, SCGs contain a large variety of min-
erals such as K, Mg, P, Ca, Na, Fe, Mn, and Cu. The total ash
concentration ranges from 0.82 to 2.08 g per 100 g of dried SCGs
(Cruz et al., 2012).
2.3. Valorization of spent coffee grounds without any
fractionation
The first viable way of valorizing SCGs that was announced
was to apply it as a dietary additive for animal feed. Unfor-
tunately, non-modified SCGs suffer from a high content of
phenolics and caffeine, which limits their digestibility (Cherry,
1974; Sikka et al., 1985). The second, widespread use of SCGs is
their application as a composting additive in organic farming
(Ribeiro et al., 2017) due to the presence of minerals (Cruz et al.,
2012; Cruz et al., 2014b; Ribeiro et al., 2017). Another notable
utilization of SCGs is their direct use as a fuel. The heating
value of SCGs determined in a small boiler system (around
18.8 MJ/kg) can be compared to other agro-industrial residues
or softwoods (Kang et al., 2017). Kim et al. (2017) reported that
a hydrothermal carbonization of SCGs produced biochar with
a content of 73.4% carbon and with a calorific value of approx.
26–27 MJ/kg. Similarly, Vardon et al. (2013) applied slow pyroly-
sis to generate bio-oil and biochar from SCGs and reported an
elevated energy density of 31 MJ/kg. The option of producing
biogas from SCGs has been tested by Girotto et al. (2017).
Besides the caloric value, SCGs have a unique microporous
structure with a high surface area of about 300–1000 m2 /g and
metal-chelating activity. Therefore, SCGs have been success-
fully applied for the adsorption of phenols and heavy metals
(Castro et al., 2011; Davila-Guzman et al., 2013; Liu et al., 2015).
Davila-Guzman et al. (2013) reported a 3-fold higher copper
ion adsorption capacity of SCGs compared to the adsorption
capacity of activated carbon. The ion-exchange of copper ions
with calcium and hydrogen ions has been connected with
the presence of carboxyl and hydroxyl groups (Davila-Guzman
et al., 2013). Similarly, Liu et al. (2015) confirmed a connec-
tion between the occurrences of oxygen functional groups in
SCGs with metal sorption. Furthermore, the active element
important for the metal-chelating activity of SCGs has been
identified as the melanoidin-like polymer formed through the
roasting process due to the decomposition and polymeriza-
 Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119 107

Table 1 – Identified polyphenolic compounds in SCGs.

Compound (␮gGAE/g) Source mg/g Source

Chlorogenic acid 0.3–41.3 Andrade et al. (2012) 1.8–5.6 Lopez-Barrera et al. (2016)

Catechin, Epicatechin 0.3 Andrade et al. (2012) 0.3–0.6 Lopez-Barrera et al. (2016)

Caffeic acid 0.1 Andrade et al. (2012) 0.03–0.07 Lopez-Barrera et al. (2016)

Ellagic acid nd 0.06– 0.1 Lopez-Barrera et al. (2016)

Ferulic acid nd 0.004–0.01 Lopez-Barrera et al. (2016)

Gallic acid 14.3 Andrade et al. (2012) 1.3–2.5 Lopez-Barrera et al. (2016)

p-Hydroxybenzoic acid 3.1 Andrade et al. (2012) nd

p-Coumaric acid nd 0.01 Lopez-Barrera et al. (2016)

Protocatechuic acid 0.6–33.1 Andrade et al. (2012) nd

Rutin nd 0.06 Lopez-Barrera et al. (2016)

Quercetin nd 0.96–1.0 Lopez-Barrera et al. (2016)

Tannic acid 0.7 Andrade et al. (2012) nd

nd — not determined.

tion of sugars, amino acids, and phenolics (Takenaka et al.,
2005). Various modifications have been applied to enhance
the adsorption ability of SCGs. Dai et al. (2016) increased
the adsorption capacity of SCGs for nitrobenzene by alkaline
modification. Serrano-Gomez et al. (2015) modified SCGs by
mixing with ammonium nitrate and urea by using an aqueous
solution combustion process at 800 ◦ C and prepared material
with a surface area of 390.8 m2 /g. An adsorbent thus prepared
showed a sorption capacity of 17.3 mg/g and 23.25 mg/g for
cobalt and cadmium adsorption, respectively (Serrano-Gomez
et al., 2015). Ramasahayam et al. (2015a, 2015b) applied a
microwave-assisted technique for the synthesis of phospho-
rous, nitrogen co-doped carbon from SCGs and ammonium
polyphosphate. The synthesized product was a highly porous
material with a surface area ranging from 506.9 m2 /g to
999.6 m2 /g. SCGs have also been suggested as a material
suitable for the production of electrode material used for
long-term practical fuel cells and supercapacitors. Wang et al.
(2016a) enlarged the surface area of SCGs to 1622 m2 /g by KOH
activation. KOH-activated SCGs treated with polyvinylidene
chloride enabled preparing an electrode with a specific capac-
itance of 175 F/g at 1 A/g and 475 F/g at 0.1 A/g. Similarly, Yun
et al. (2015) modified SCGs using KOH and a carbonization pro-
cess and fabricated hierarchically porous carbon nanosheets
with a high specific surface area of 1945.7 m2 /g. Moreover,
SCGs have also been examined as a cheap filler for polymers.
However, non-modified SCGs is interfacially incompatible
with hydrophobic polymers and their use as a filler for poly-
mers requires physical and chemical modification. Wu et al.
(2016) reported an improved interfacial compatibility of defat-
ted SCGs with polypropylene (PP) compared to non-treated
SCGs with PP. Garcia-Garcia et al. (2015) improved the mechan-
ical performance of a PP/SCGs composite by hydrophobization
of SCGs with palmitoyl chloride. Thiagamani et al. (2017)
modified SCGs by alkali treatment and used them as a rein-
forcement for cellulose films. Baek et al. (2013) improved
the interfacial compatibility between poly(lactic acid), SCGs
and bamboo flour with the addition of an isocyanate cou-
pling agent. Moustafa et al. (2017a) noted that the addition
of poly(ethylene glycol) improved the homogeneity and dis-
persion of SCGs in poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)
(PBAT). Moustafa et al. (2017b) further showed that torrefied
SCG powder is much more compatible with PBAT compared to
conventional SCG powder. SCGs were found to be an additive
material also for construction materials. Muñoz Velasco et al.
(2016) presented the preparation of bricks with reduced ther-
mal conductivity due to the addition of SCGs. Kua et al. (2017)
prepared green construction material based on SCGs, fly ash
108 Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119

Table 2 – Extraction of different phenolic materials from SCGs (GAE — gallic acid equivalents; CGA — chlorogenic acid).
Method Solvent Type of SCGs Extractives Yield of extracts Source

Direct saponification 50% KOH in 95% ethanol Dried SCGs Diterpenes 2.14 mg kahweol/g Acevedo et al. (2013)
4.67 mg cafestol/g
Successive Ethanol:water (50:50) Dried SCGs Phenolics 273.34 mg GAE/g Acevedo et al. (2013)
extraction in Soxhlet Defatted SCGs 255.61 mg GAE/g
extractor Isopropanol:water (60:40) Dried SCGs Phenolics 11.7% (w/w) Murthy and Naidu
(2012)
Dichloromethane Dried SCGs Not specified 19.67% (w/w) Pujol et al. (2013)
Ethanol Dried SCGs Not specified 5.36% (w/w) Pujol et al. (2013)
Water Dried SCGs Not specified 1.30% (w/w) Pujol et al. (2013)
Liquid-solid Ethanol:water (60:40) Dried SCGs Phenolics 11.83–28.26 mg GAE/g Panusa et al. (2013)
extraction at CGA 30.2–51.6 mg CGA eq/g Burniol-Figols et al.
60–70 ◦ C (2016)
Water Dried SCGs Phenolics 6.33–19.62 mg GAE/g Panusa et al. (2013)
Subcritical water Water Dried SCGs Phenolics 47.25 mg GAE/g Xu et al. (2015)
extraction 26.64 mg GAE/g Mayanga-Torres
et al. (2017)
Defatted SCGs 55.31 mg GAE/g Mayanga-Torres
et al. (2017)
Autohydrolysis in Water Dried SCGs Phenolics 28.26 mg GAE/g Ballesteros et al.
cylindrical stainless (2017b)
steel reactor at
200 ◦ C
Ultrasound-assisted Methanol:water (50:50) Dried SCGs Phenolics 22.32–24.32 mg GAE/g Severini et al. (2017)
extraction
Hydrothermal Water Dried SCGs Phenolics 32.92 mg GAE/g Conde and Mussatto
treatment in (2016)
autoclave at 120 ◦ C

(a waste product of coal combustion in power plants), and slag lics and extractives can be kept direct in extraction solution or
(waste generated from iron-ore refineries). in dried form, while the storage stability of dried compounds
can be prolonged by an encapsulation process (Ballesteros
et al., 2017a).
3. Fractionation, extraction and
valorization of SCGs’ components 3.2. Valorization of coffee oil fractions

3.1. Characterization, isolation, and application of
minor biologically active constituents present in SCGs
Among the compounds with various degrees of bioactivity
that are present in SCGs, mainly diterpene alcohol esters
and phenolics can be mentioned. The yield of bioactive com-
pounds extracted from SCGs depends on the coffee species,
storage conditions, and the extraction method, but usually
polar or intermediately polar solvents are used (see Table 2).
Diterpene alcohol esters occur in the form of free molecules
or non-aromatic glycosylated precursors and can be iso-
lated from the lipid fraction of SCGs. Among the most
investigated are kahweol and cafestol with anti-carcinogenic,
anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and UVB protection proper-
ties (Cavin et al., 2002). Direct saponification was found to
be an effective method for extraction of kahweol and cafestol
(Acevedo et al., 2013; Dias et al., 2009).
The phenolic compounds present in SCGs are from the
polyphenol family of esters (caffeic acid, ferulic acid, p-
coumaric acid, chlorogenic acid) and possess antioxidant,
antibacterial, hepatoprotective, hypoglycemic, anticancer and
antiviral activity (Andrade et al., 2012; Burgos-Moroń et al.,
2012). Further active polyphenols present in SCGs are con-
densed and hydrolyzable tannins (Low et al., 2015).
The bioactive substances isolated from SCGs have poten-
tial uses in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries
(Cruz et al., 2012; Huang et al., 2016). Kim et al. (2016) suggested
that the high antioxidant capacity of SCG ethanol extract can
be used for protection of raw or cooked meat. Isolated pheno-
As was already mentioned, the major lipid classes found in
SCGs are triglycerides, diterpene alcohol esters and fatty acids
(Ratnayake et al., 1993). Coffee oil has numerous desirable
characteristics such as high antioxidant status, presence of
UVB protectors, etc. which make this fraction very attrac-
tive for direct applications in cosmetics. Ribeiro et al. (2013)
tested coffee oil extracted from SCGs by means of super-
critical extraction as an additive for cosmetic formulations
with improved skin sebum and hydration properties. Coffee
oil isolated from SCGs was also suggested as an inexpensive
component for the preparation of sunscreen fraction (Marto
et al., 2016). Similarly, Choi et al. (2016) reported the protec-
tive activity of the oil and ethanol fractions derived from SCGs
against harmful effects of ultraviolet irradiation. In addition
to the high-value applications, oil extracted from SCGs has
also been considered for low-end applications such as asphalt
binder rejuvenators (Jalkh et al., 2016; Jalkh et al., 2017).
Moreover, coffee oil can be converted into biodiesel through
direct transesterification into fatty acid methyl and ethyl
esters (FAME) with short-chain alcohols (mainly methanol)
(Abdullah and Koc, 2013). The efficiency of coffee oil’s
conversion into FAME corresponds with the applied transes-
terification method. The high level of free fatty acids present
in oil extracted from SCGs influences the transesterification
process because they tend to form significant amounts of
unwanted soap byproducts during the alkali-catalyzed trans-
esterification process, which promotes the formation of stable
emulsions. The presence of free fatty acids increases the vis-
cosity of the reactant mixture and creates severe problems
 Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119 109

Table 3 – Effect of hydrolysis conditions on yields of fermentable sugars in SCG hydrolysates.

a b
Material Acid L/S (g/g) Temperature Time (min) Enzymatic YS/SCG (mg/g) Source
(◦ C) treatment

Acid pretreated SCGs 1 N H2 SO4 10 163 45 No 335 Mussatto et al. (2011)

SCGs 1 N H2 SO4 10 163 45 No 500 Mussatto et al. (2012b)
SCGs 1% H2 SO4 5.66 121 60 Yes 389 Kwon et al. (2013)
Defatted SCGs 1% H2 SO4 5.66 121 90 Yes 334 Obruca et al. (2014a)
Defatted SCGs 0.8 mol/L H2 SO4 4 121 15 No 192 Rocha et al. (2014)
SCGs after extraction of 3% H2 SO4 3.5 140 20 No 368 Burniol-Figols et al. (2016)
phenolics
SCGs 4% H2 SO4 10 95 120 No 208 Go et al. (2016)
Defatted SCGs 4% H2 SO4 10 95 120 No 310 Go et al. (2016)
Defatted SCGs 2% H2 SO4 4 100 60 No 62 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 2% H2 SO4 4 100 60 Yes 154.7 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 4% H2 SO4 4 100 60 No 165.8 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 4% H2 SO4 4 100 60 Yes 271.9 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 6% H2 SO4 4 100 60 No 211.7 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 6% H2 SO4 4 100 60 Yes 336.6 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 2% H2 SO4 4 100 90 No 106.8 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 2% H2 SO4 4 100 90 Yes 177.1 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 4% H2 SO4 4 100 90 No 348.7 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 4% H2 SO4 4 100 90 Yes 481.9 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 6% H2 SO4 4 100 90 No 355.7 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 6% H2 SO4 4 100 90 Yes 519.9 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 2% H2 SO4 4 100 120 No 141.5 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 2% H2 SO4 4 100 120 Yes 294.5 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 4% H2 SO4 4 100 120 No 435.5 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCGs 4% H2 SO4 4 100 120 Yes 521.6 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCG 6% H2 SO4 4 100 120 No 412.6 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCG 6% H2 SO4 4 100 120 Yes 513.7 Wang et al. (2016b)
Defatted SCG 4% H2 SO4 8 95 180 No 340 Go et al. (2017)

a
Liquid to solid ratio.
b
Yield of sugar in mg on 1 g of SCG.

during biodiesel separation from glycerol during processing,
ultimately lowering the yield substantially (Al-Hamamre et al.,
2012; Sharma et al., 2008). This disadvantage may be par-
tially overcome by using acid-catalyzed transesterification,
but nevertheless the high free fatty acid content influences
the physical properties of the oil since it enhances the kine-
matic viscosities of the oil. The high viscosity of the oil leads
to high power consumption (Meher et al., 2006). Calixto et al.
(2011) successfully converted SCG oil to FAME in supercrit-
ical methanol and CO2 with a yield of 93.4%. Similarly, an
increased oil conversion of 99% was reported after a two-step
transesterification process consisting of an acid-catalyzed
pre-treatment and alkali-catalyzed transesterification (Al-
Hamamre et al., 2012). Recently, direct transesterification
of SCGs without previous isolation of the oil fraction was
reported as a method for achieving biodiesel yields of 77%
(Tuntiwiwattanapun et al., 2017).
Finally, numerous microorganisms can utilize coffee oil
as a carbon source for the production of valuable products.
In this concept, bacterial polyesters polyhydroxyalkanoates
(PHA), which are considered to be a biodegradable and bio-
compatible alternative to petrochemical plastics, are the most
widely mentioned biotechnological product. Hence, biotech-
nological conversion of SCG oil into PHA was performed using
fed-batch cultivation in a 2 L bioreactor, utilizing 20 g/L of SCG
oil as a sole carbon source employing the bacterium Cupri-
avidus necator H16. Such a process provided 16.7 g/L of biomass
with a 78.4% content of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (P3HB) (Cruz
et al., 2014a). Similarly, Obruca et al. (2014b) applied fed-batch
cultivation of C. necator H16 by using SCG oil and reported
55.4 g/L of biomass and 89.1% of P3HB. The varying composi-
tion of coffee oil influences biomass and polymer production.
As a decisive factor in supporting bacterial growth and PHA
production, the content of free fatty acids present in the oil
has been suggested (Obruca et al., 2014b).
3.3. Valorization of carbohydrates
The concentration and composition of polysaccharides in
spent coffee grounds depend mainly on the natural source
of coffee, fruit growing conditions, and roasting conditions
(Oosterveld et al., 2003). One of the biopolymers which can be
isolated from SCGs is cellulose, but its concentration is negligi-
ble, reaching around 5–12 wt%. Much preferable is the isolation
of hemicelluloses from SCGs due to their much higher con-
tent (about 40 wt%). Galactomannans predominantly present
in SCGs have been found to have valuable applications in cos-
metics and healthcare (Passos et al., 2014; Tian et al., 2017).
Often the methodologies applied for separation of hemicellu-
loses are dilute acid hydrolysis, subcritical water hydrolysis,
or enzymatic hydrolysis, giving hydrolysates with a content
of fermentable sugars in the range from 0.192 mg/g SCGs up
to 521.6 mg/g SCG (Rocha et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2016b).
SCG hydrolysates contain a mixture of fermentable sugars
composed of mannose, galactose, glucose, arabinose, and cel-
lobiose (Obruca et al., 2014a). The total concentration of sugars
in hydrolysates corresponds with the efficiency of the hydrol-
ysis method applied. Issues such as the origin of SCGs (the
type of coffee, roasting, brewing), pretreatment of SCGs (pre-
extraction of the oil fraction and phenolics), conditions used
for dilute acid hydrolysis and application of enzymatic post-
treatment influence the final concentration of fermentable
110 Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119
sugars present in SCG hydrolysates (see Table 3). Dilute acid
hydrolysis of SCGs is often carried out under high pressure
and with the addition of diluted sulfuric acid or hydrochloric
acid (0.5–5 wt%), at a temperature range of 95–180 ◦ C and for
1–4 h. The influence that the solvent–solid ratio used has on
the concentration of sugars was reported to be negligible com-
pared to other conditions such as reaction temperature, acid
concentration, and hydrolysis time (Go et al., 2017; Mussatto
et al., 2011). Go et al. (2017) presented an optimization of the
hydrolysis conditions by using the Taguchi statistical method.
The optimized hydrolysate with a sugar content of 40 g/L
was obtained by hydrolysis with 4% sulfuric acid, a liquid-
solid ratio of 8 mL/g, for 3 h and at 95 ◦ C (Go et al., 2017).
Concerning other hydrolysis methods, e.g. subcritical water
hydrolysis (held between 100 ◦ C and 374 ◦ C), it must be noted
that temperatures above 150 ◦ C have a destructive effect on
SCGs and increase the concentration of 5-HMF, furfural and
organic acids (microbial inhibitors) (Mayanga-Torres et al.,
2017). Therefore, the temperature should be carefully selected
to regulate the composition of hydrolysates. The content of
fermentable sugars in SCG hydrolysate can be increased by
combining dilute acid hydrolysis with enzymatic digestion
(Obruca et al., 2014a; Wang et al., 2016b). Various cellulolytic
and hemicellulolytic microorganisms have been applied for
enzymatic hydrolysis of SCGs and among the most efficient
enzymes are mannanases (Jooste et al., 2013). Unfortunately,
the use of enzymatic hydrolysis raises cost expenditures.
It is believed that the careful adjustment of process condi-
tions may eliminate the financial disadvantages. Chiyanzy
et al. (2015) reported an increased efficiency of hydrolysis
by the combination of mannanase and cellulase along with
the steam explosion pretreatment of SCGs. Furthermore, the
effectiveness of chemical as well as enzymatic hydrolysis can
be enhanced by the mechanical pre-treatment of SCG mate-
rial before hydrolysis (e.g., ball-milling, ultrasound) (Ravindran
et al., 2017; Rocha et al., 2014).
As it is known, lignocellulosic waste hydrolysates, includ-
ing SCG hydrolysates, may serve as inexpensive renewable
carbon substrates for the production of numerous micro-
bial products such as PHA. However, each hydrolysis method
gives a different amount of total reducing sugars present in
hydrolysate (Sampaio et al., 2013). Ballesteros et al. (2015)
determined 39 g of sugars in 100 g SCGs extracted by alkali
pretreatment and the composition of sugars was as follows:
15.37 mol% of glucose, 19.93 mol% of arabinose, 4.43 mol% of
mannose, and 60.27 mol% of galactose. Interestingly, Burniol-
Figols et al. (2016) obtained 50.1 g of sugars from 100 g of SCGs
treated by acid hydrolysis and determined a slightly different
composition of sugars, namely 17.5% glucose, 57% mannose,
20% galactose and 5% arabinose. Next, Obruca et al. (2014a)
derived 50.1 g sugars from 150 g SCGs by acid hydrolysis and
enzymatic digestion of defatted SCGs and determined 47.1%
mannose, 34.5% galactose, 7.8% glucose, 5.6% arabinose, and
5.4% cellobiose. The composition of other lignocellulosic (LC)
hydrolysates, for example, derived from wood are very similar;
the difference is only in the presence of xylose. It is impor-
tant to note that the use of SCG hydrolysates, which contain
a mixture of pentoses (arabinose), hexoses (mannose, galac-
tose, and glucose) and disaccharide (cellobiose) require proper
selection of bacterial strains capable of utilizing this mixture of
sugars. The limiting factor in the utilization of LC hydrolysates
is the existence of a regulatory mechanism known as car-
bon catabolite repression. This mechanism is responsible for
production bacteria preferring one substrate, such as glu-
cose. Therefore, other types of sugars in hydrolysate remain
unused. This problem is usually associated with pentose-rich
hydrolysates. During fed-batch cultivation, pentoses remain
unused and accumulate in cultivation media, potentially
reaching limiting concentrations (Stülke and Hillen, 1999). The
advantage of SCG hydrolysates is their low pentose content.
Therefore, the risk of carbon catabolite repression is limited.
Table 4 shows a list of published bacterial strains capable of
metabolizing the mixture of sugars present in various lignocel-
lulose hydrolysates. Burkholderia cepacia (Obruca et al. 2014a),
Bacillus megaterium (Obruca et al., 2015a), and Halomonas
halophila (Kovalcik et al., 2018) are PHA-accumulating strains
reported to utilize the fermentable sugars present in SCGs
hydrolysates. Utilization of B. cepacia resulted in the highest
PHA yields and, moreover, this bacterial strain was capable
of accumulating the copolymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-
3-hydroxyvalerate) [P(HB-co-HV)]. It was proposed that the
levulinic acid present in the hydrolysate of spent coffee
grounds served as the precursor of 3-hydroxyvalerate for
copolymer biosynthesis by B. cepacia (Obruca et al., 2014a).
The hydrolysate of the carbohydrate fraction of SCGs was
recently utilized for biotechnological production of lactic acid;
the highest yields were achieved employing Lactobacillus rham-
nosus CCM 1825 and lactic acid titers reached 25.69 g/L, which
represented a 98% conversion rate of sugars into lactic acid
(Hudeckova et al., 2018). Concerning further biotechnologi-
cal production, the sugars present in hydrolysates of SCGs
can be used for the fermentation of yeast. Various species of
yeasts have been used for ethanol fermentation, but the most-
used yeast was Saccharomyces cerevisiae, probably due to its
ability to consume mono- and disaccharides (Lagunas, 1993).
Similarly, Mussatto et al. (2012b) reported that in a compari-
son of the efficiency of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia stipitis,
and Kluyveromyces fragilis to utilize SCGs acid hydrolysates,
the most useful yeast strains were S. cerevisiae. Kwon et al.
(2013) also fermented S. cerevisiae by using SCG hydrolysates
and reached a high content of sugars in hydrolase by applica-
tion of the combination of acid and enzyme hydrolysis from
the defatted SCGs, and produced ethanol in yields of 0.46 g/g
for the hydrolysate. Pre-extraction of the oil fraction from
SCGs has been found to be an effective method for produc-
ing biodiesel and bioethanol, respectively (Rocha et al., 2014).
Recently, Burniol-Figols et al. (2016) in their work reached,
through the optimization of hydrolysis conditions and the
application of pre-extractions, up to 95.38 g/L of fermentable
sugars in hydrolysate and produced ethanol in a concentration
of 39 g/L.
SCG hydrolysates have been found to be valuable also for
carotenogenic yeasts such as Rhodotorula glutinis, Cystofiloba-
sidium capitatum, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, and Sporobolomyces
roseus (Obruca et al., 2015a). Petrik et al. (2014) reported that the
extraction of oil from SCGs supported to receive higher quan-
tity of biotechnological produced carotenoids and ␤-carotene
(29.9 mg/L and 15.6 mg/L, respectively) compared to the non-
extracted SCGs.
3.4. Inhibitors of microbial growth and their
elimination
In addition to fermentable sugars, SCG hydrolysates contain
also other compounds, which can be toxic to fermented bac-
teria and yeasts. Fig. 1 shows a list of the co-contaminants
that are often present and recognized as inhibitors for
Table 4 – List of PHA producing strains metabolizing fermentable sugars present in lignocellulosic hydrolysates.
Strains Lignocellulosic Hydrolysis Enzymatic CDW PHA Detoxification Cultivation Source
substrate treatment (g/L) (%)

Azotobacter Coir pitch Enzymatic Yes 5.0 48.0 No Shake flask cultures Sathesh Prabu and
beijerinickii hydrolysis Murugesan (2010)
Bacillus firmus Rice straw Acid hydrolysis No 1.9 89.0 No Shake flask cultures Sindhu et al. (2013)
Bacillus megaterium Oil palm empty fruit Enzymatic Yes 24.2 51.6 No Shake flask cultures Zhang et al. (2013)
bunch hydrolysis
Bacillus mycoides Rice husk Acid hydrolysis No 47.0 14.9 No Shake flask cultures Narayanan et al.
(2014)

Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119

Bacillus subtilis Papaya leaf Acid hydrolysis No 5.0 65.2 Hot water Shaking incubator Umesh et al. (2017)
pretreatment,
filtration
Bacillus thuringiensis Bagasse Acid hydrolysis No 10.6 39.6 No Shake flask cultures Gowda and
Shivakumar (2014)
Brevundimonas Sawdust Acid hydrolysis No 0.2 62.0 No Shake flask cultures Silva et al. (2007)
vesicularis
Burkholderia cepacia Bagasse Acid hydrolysis No 4.4 53.0 Activated charcoal 10 L Bioreactor Silva et al. (2004)
Burkholderia cepacia Rice husks Enzymatic Yes 7.8 50.0 Alkali pre-treatment 5 L fermentor Heng et al. (2017)
hydrolysis
Burkholderia cepacia Aspen Acid hydrolysis No 5.1 39.2 Overliming, Shake flask cultures Keenan et al. (2006)
activated charcoal
Burkholderia cepacia Sugar maple Acid hydrolysis No 16.9 51.4 Membrane filtration Fed-batch fermentor Pan et al. (2012)
Burkholderia sacchari SCG Acid hydrolysis Yes 5.5 56.0 Extraction of Shake flask cultures Obruca et al. (2014a)
phenolics
Burkholderia sacchari Bagasse Acid hydrolysis No 4.4 62.0 Activated charcoal 10 L Bioreactor Silva et al. (2004)
Burkholderia sacchari Wheat straw Enzymatic Yes 7.7 31.0 AEX process and Shaking flask Cesario et al. (2014)
hydrolysis dilution of cultivation
hydrolysate
Burkholderia sp. F24 Sugarcane bagasse Acid hydrolysis No 25.0 49.3 Overliming Fed-batch, Lopes et al. (2014)
bioreactor
Cupriavidus necator Bagasse Acid hydrolysis No 11.1 56.5 Production of Shake flask cultures Yu and Stahl (2008)
tolerant strain
Cupriavidus necator Sunflower husk Enzymatic Yes 13.1 67.2 Alkaline Shake flask cultures Saratale and Oh
hydrolysis pre-treatment (2015)
Cupriavidus necator Soybean straw Enzymatic Yes 12.1 62.3 Alkaline Shake flask cultures Saratale and Oh
hydrolysis pre-treatment (2015)
Cupriavidus necator Wood straw Enzymatic Yes 11.4 59.5 Alkaline Shake flask cultures Saratale and Oh
hydrolysis pre-treatment (2015)
Cupriavidus necator Rice paddy straw Enzymatic Yes 15.5 70.2 Alkaline Shake flask cultures Saratale and Oh
hydrolysis pre-treatment (2015)
Cupriavidus necator Paddy straw Alkali-acid No 19.2 37.5 Chlorination Shake flask cultures Sandhya et al. (2013)
hydrolysis

111
 112
– Table 4 (Continued)
Strains Lignocellulosic Hydrolysis Enzymatic CDW PHA Detoxification Cultivation Source
substrate treatment (g/L) (%)

Cupriavidus necator Pulp fibre Enzymatic Yes 8.8 31.9 No Shake flask cultures Zhang et al. (2004)
hydrolysis

Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119

Cupriavidus necator Sunflower meal hydrolysis Yes 27.0 72.9 No 1L Bioreactor Kachrimanidou et al.
(2014)
Halomonas boliviensis Wheat bran Enzymatic Yes 3.2 33.8 No Shaking flask Van-Thuoc et al.
hydrolysis cultivation (2008)
Mixed microbial Hybrid poplar Enzymatic Yes 4.20 27.5 Hot water Fed-batch Dai et al. (2015)
cultures hydrolysis pretreatment, bioreactors
heating,
cooling,filtration
Novosphingobium Softwood Steam explosion, Yes 1.50 14.0 No Shake flask cultures Bowers et al. (2014)
nitrogenifigens enzymatic
hydrolysis
Paracoccus sp. Corn stover Enzymatic Yes 9.7 72.4 n.a. Flask cultures Sawant et al. (2015)
hydrolysis
Pseudomonas Poplar wood n.a. No 1.5 38.0 No Batch, 2-L Fermentor Bertrand et al. (1990)
pseudoflava
Pseudomonas putida Perennial ryegrass Enzymatic Yes 0.8 26.1 Alkali or hot water Shake flask cultures Davis et al. (2013)
hydrolysis treatment
Recombinant Beech wood xylan n.a. No 8.9 40.4 No Shake flask cultures Salamanca-Cardona
Escherichia coli and xylose et al. (2014)
Sphingopyxis Sawdust Acid hydrolysis No 0.3 78.0 No Shake flask cultures Silva et al. (2007)
macrogoltabida
Sphingobium Softwood Steam explosion, Yes 1.5 17.0 No Shake flask cultures Bowers et al. (2014)
scionense enzymatic
hydrolysis

n.a. — information not available.

 Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119 113

Fig. 1 – Inhibitors present in LC hydrolysates.

Fig. 2 – List of detoxification methods.

microbial growth. The substances which can be toxic to
fermented bacteria are mainly: (1) phenolics and alkaloids
(naturally present in SCG), (2) compounds formed during
the roasting process and (3) compounds formed during
thermal degradation of carbohydrates (e.g. acetic acid, fur-
fural, and hydroxymethylfurfural). The decomposition of
reducing sugars increases rapidly with the increase of the
hydrolysis temperature applied (Mayanga-Torres et al., 2017).
The reasons for the toxicity of individual co-contaminants
in hydrolysates vary. Phenolic substances, alkaloids and
melanoidins mostly inhibit the growth of microorganisms
(Gregorova, 2016; Parajo et al., 1997; Almeida et al., 2006;
Daglia et al., 2007). Acetic acid inhibits fermentation of
many microorganisms through chemical interference with
cell maintenance functions (Maiorella et al., 1983). Furfural
and hydroxymethyl–furfural influence the electron trans-
port chain in the mitochondria, lower the growth rate of
some microorganisms, and therefore lower their fermenta-
tion ability (Chung and Lee, 1985; Weigert et al., 1988). The
sensitivity of microorganisms capable of using lignocellulosic
hydrolysates varies. Dietrich et al. (2013) reported a significant
variation in the sensitivity of several PHA-producing bacteria
such as Azohydromonas lata, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus cereus,
Burkholderia cepacia, Pseudomonas olevorans, Pseudomonas pseud-
oflava and Cupriavidus necator against the presence of acetic
acid, levulinic acid, coumaric acid, ferulic acid, syringalde-
114 Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119
Fig. 3 – Alternative value-added products derived from spent coffee grounds.
hyde, furfural, and hydroxymethylfurfural, while B. cepacia and
P. pseudoflava were recognized as the most resistant bacteria
able to produce PHA by utilizing LC hydrolysates. One way
to decrease the concentration of toxic co-contaminants in LC
hydrolysates is to apply one of the detoxification methods.
Fig. 2 shows the main principles and detoxification methods
used for the elimination of phenolic compounds and products
of sugar breakdowns from LC hydrolysates. Phenolic com-
pounds can be extracted from SCGs before the hydrolysis
(Mussatto et al., 2012a; Zuorro and Lavecchia, 2012) or their
presence in hydrolysates can be eliminated by the applica-
tion of post-treatment detoxification methods (Obruca et al.,
2014a). An efficiency of the detoxification step on the elim-
ination of inhibitors as well as a final effect on the bacterial
fermentation has different effectivity on the growing of bacte-
ria (Guo et al., 2013). One of the reasons for this may be a drop
in sugar concentration due to the detoxification treatment
(e.g. overliming, alkali treatment with NH4 OH, and adsorp-
tion by ion-exchange resins). Another reason may be induction
of osmotic stress after alkali treatments. In some cases, the
extraction of potential microbial inhibitors (e.g. phenolics) is
more preferable than a post-hydrolysis detoxification step due
to the stable concentration of fermentable sugars (Burniol-
Figols et al., 2016). Moreover, the pre-extracted phenolics can
be used as a high-value side product (Obruca et al., 2014a).
Briefly, fractionation of SCGs may not only lower the amount
of co-contaminants in SCG hydrolysates but may also support
the production of numerous valuable products and thus con-
tribute to the economic valorization of spent coffee grounds
(see Fig. 3).
4. Conclusions
Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world,
and therefore a huge amount of solid waste known as spent
coffee grounds is perpetually generated. SCGs are a waste
material containing a large amount of organic and inorganic
compounds, and these compounds can be utilized as valu-
able byproducts in many industrial sectors. The present study
summarizes a few possible ways of valorization of spent coffee
grounds, a waste product of the coffee production/industry.
Concerning the position of coffee industry on world markets
and the amount of waste produced (which is furthermore
constantly growing), we can note that the development of
processes including the processing and use of spent coffee
grounds is highly desirable.
Spent coffee grounds due to their composition have a high
potential for reuse as a renewable source of lipids, phenolic
bioactive compounds, and carbohydrates for the production
of many value-added products. The advantage is that SCGs
do not compete with food products and they are generated in
volumes industrially and economically acceptable enough to
start thinking about their secondary reuse. SCGs can be reused
directly with only minor modifications such as composting
additives for organic farming, or as adsorption materials for
phenols and metal ions. Furthermore, SCGs have a relatively
high caloric value, which can be exploited through combus-
tion as fuel. Surface-treated SCGs or SCGs modified with
additives can also be used as a filler for non-biodegradable
and biodegradable polymers. Although direct utilization of
SCGs can be seen as one of the economically advantageous
paths, the composition of SCGs enables sophisticated uses
that follow the principles of a circular economy. The raw
SCG powder contains oil, cellulose, hemicelluloses, pheno-
lic compounds, proteins, melanoidins, and minerals. This
work shows various possibilities for the reuse of individual
fractions derived from SCGs employing current concepts of
biorefineries and the circular economy. Fractionation of SCGs
is a concept bringing opportunities for secondary uses of the
oil fraction, diterpenes, phenolic compounds, and carbohy-
drates as well as rest crude materials. All these compounds
can be used for different applications, or they can be chemi-
cally or even biotechnologically converted into other valuable
products, such as antioxidants, biodiesel, and polymers.
This work discusses the composition of SCGs, the
extraction methods applied for the derivation of bioac-
tive compounds present in SCGs, use of bioactive com-
pounds, derivation of sugars through hydrolysis, use of SCG
hydrolysates in biotechnology, and reviews the detoxifica-
tion methods focused on lowering the amount of toxic
co-contaminants present in SCG hydrolysates. Many different
means of SCG valorization have been considered in the litera-
ture. However, published works have mainly been focused on
a single theme. Future investigations should pay more atten-
tion not only to the thorough collection of SCGs but also on
the fractionation of SCGs and purification of products, e.g.
detoxification of hydrolysates. Such fractionation and purifi-
cation may be a way to produce a much more significant scale
 Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119
of value-added products in economically acceptable and effi-
cient ways, which may be attractive not only to society but
also industry. The current trend of recent years has aimed
at a “zero waste economy” and this trend should continue.
One can expect that research focused on the investigation
and utilization of SCGs will support activities to develop new
technologies contributing to the circular economy and avoid-
ance or minimization of waste production. Currently, when
many concerns have arisen about the consequences of deple-
tion of natural resources, the large availability of SCGs should
be accepted and utilized wisely as a “value-added product”. In
addition, as the final step, the necessity of modifying current
industrial technologies and acceptance of waste materials as
a valuable source of organic and inorganic substances should
be incorporated into new scientific projects and research.
Conflict of interest
There are no conflicts to declare.
Acknowledgements
This work was funded through the project SoMoPro (project
No. 6SA18032). This project has received funding from the
European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie, and it is co-
financed by the South Moravian Region under grant agreement
No. 665860. This work was also supported by the project
“Materials Research Centre at FCH BUT – Sustainability and
Development” No. LO1211 of the Ministry of Education, Youth
and Sports of the Czech Republic
Authors confirm that the content of this work reflects only
the author’s view and that the EU is not responsible for any
use that may be made of the information it contains.
References
Abdullah, M., Koc, A.B., 2013. Oil removal from waste coffee
grounds using two-phase solvent extraction enhanced with
ultrasonication. Renew. Energy 50, 965–970.
Acevedo, F., Rubilar, M., Scheuermann, E., Cancino, B., Uquiche,
E., Garces, M., Inostroza, K., Shene, C., 2013. Spent coffee
grounds as a renewable source of bioactive compounds. J.
Biobased Mater. Bioenergy 7, 420–428.
Ahangari, B., Sargolzaei, J., 2013. Extraction of lipids from spent
coffee grounds using organic solvents and supercritical
carbon dioxide. J. Food Process. Preserv. 37, 1014–1021.
Akguen, N.A., Bulut, H., Kikic, I., Solinas, D., 2014. Extraction
behavior of lipids obtained from spent coffee grounds using
supercrit carbon dioxide. Chem. Eng. Technol. 37, 1975–1981.
Al-Hamamre, Z., Foerster, S., Hartmann, F., Kröger, M.,
Kaltschmitt, M., 2012. Oil extracted from spent coffee grounds
as a renewable source for fatty acid methyl ester
manufacturing. Fuel 96, 70–76.
Almeida, A.A.P., Farah, A., Silva, D.A., Nunan, E.A., Glória, M.B.A.,
2006. Antibacterial activity of coffee extracts and selected
coffee chemical compounds against enterobacteria. J. Agric.
Food. Chem. 54, 8738–8743.
Andrade, K.S., Gonçalvez, R.T., Maraschin, M., Ribeiro-do-Valle,
R.M., Martínez, J., Ferreira, S.R.S., 2012. Supercritical fluid
extraction from spent coffee grounds and coffee husks:
antioxidant activity and effect of operational variables on
extract composition. Talanta 88, 544–552.
Baek, B.-S., Park, J.-W., Lee, B.-H., Kim, H.-J., 2013. Development
and application of green composites: using coffee ground and
bamboo flour. J. Polym. Environ. 21, 702–709.
115
Ballesteros, L.F., Teixeira, J.A., Mussatto, S.I., 2014. Chemical,
functional, and structural properties of spent coffee grounds
and coffee silverskin. Food Bioprocess. Technol. 7, 3493–3503.
Ballesteros, L.F., Cerqueira, M.A., Teixeira, J.A., Mussatto, S.I.,
2015. Characterization of polysaccharides extracted from
spent coffee grounds by alkali pretreatment. Carbohydr.
Polym. 127, 347–354.
Ballesteros, L.F., Ramirez, M.J., Orrego, C.E., Teixeira, J.A.,
Mussatto, S.I., 2017a. Encapsulation of antioxidant phenolic
compounds extracted from spent coffee grounds by
freeze-drying and spray-drying using different coating
materials. Food Chem. 237, 623–631.
Ballesteros, L.F., Ramirez, M.J., Orrego, C.E., Teixeira, J.A.,
Mussatto, S.I., 2017b. Optimization of autohydrolysis
conditions to extract antioxidant phenolic compounds from
spent coffee grounds. J. Food Eng. 199, 1–8.
Bertrand, J.L., Ramsay, B.A., Chavarie, C., 1990. Biosynthesis of
poly-␤-hydroxyalkanoates from pentoses by Pseudomonas
pseudoflava. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 56, 3133–3138.
Bowers, T., Vaidya, A., Smith, D.A., Lloyd-Jones, G., 2014. Softwood
hydrolysate as a carbon source for polyhydroxyalkanoate
production. J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 89, 1030–1037.
Bradbury, A.G.W., Halliday, D.J., 1990. Chemical structures of green
coffee bean polysaccharides. J. Agric. Food Chem. 38, 389–392.
Burgos-Moroń, E., Calderoń-Montan˜o, J.M., Orta, M.L., Pastor, N.,
Peŕez-Guerrero, C.N., Austin, C., Mateos, S., Loṕez-Laźaro, M.,
2012. The coffee constituent chlorogenic acid induces cellular
DNA damage and formation of topoisomerase I- and II-DNA
complexes in cells. J. Agric. Food Chem. 60, 7384–7391.
Burniol-Figols, A., Cenian, K., Skiadas, I.V., Gavala, H.N., 2016.
Integration of chlorogenic acid recovery and bioethanol
production from spent coffee grounds. Biochem. Eng. J. 116,
54–64.
Caetano, N.S., Silva, V.F.M., Melo, A.C., Martins, A.A., Mata, T.M.,
2014. Spent coffee grounds for biodiesel production and other
applications. Clean Technol. Environ. Policy 16, 1423–1430.
Calixto, F., Fernandes, J., Couto, R., Hernandez, E.J.,
Najdanovic-Visak, V., Simoes, P.C., 2011. Synthesis of fatty
acid methyl esters via direct transesterification with
methanol/carbon dioxide mixtures from spent coffee grounds
feedstock. Green Chem. 13, 1196–1202.
Campos-Vega, R., Loarca-Pina, G., Vergara-Castaneda, H.A.,
Oomah, B.D., 2015. Spent coffee grounds: a review on current
research and future prospects. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 45,
24–36.
Castro, C.S., Abreu, A.L., Silva, C.L.T., Guerreiro, M.C., 2011. Phenol
adsorption by activated carbon produced from spent coffee
grounds. Water Sci. Technol. 64, 2059–2065.
Cavin, C., Holzhaeuser, D., Scharf, G., Constable, A., Huber, W.W.,
Schilter, B., 2002. Cafestol and kahweol, two coffee specific
diterpenes with anticarcinogenic activity. Food Chem. Toxicol.
40, 1155–1163.
Cesario, M.T., Raposo, R.S., de Almeida, M.C.M.D., van Keulen, F.,
Ferreira, B.S., da Fonseca, M.M.R., 2014. Enhanced
bioproduction of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate from wheat straw
lignocellulosic hydrolysates. New Biotechnol. 31, 104–113.
Clarke, R.J., 2012. Coffee: Volume 2: Technology. Springer,
Netherlands.
Corrêa, J.L.G., Santos, J.C.P., Fonseca, B.E., Carvalho, A. G. d. S.,
2014. Drying of spent coffee grounds in a cyclonic dryer.
Coffee Sci. 9, 68–76.
International Coffee Organization, 2016. Coffee Market Report,
https://icocoffeeorg.tumblr.com/post/148833167985/coffee-
market-consolidates-price-rises-but-robusta (Accessed 10
November 2017).
Conde, T., Mussatto, S.I., 2016. Isolation of polyphenols from
spent coffee grounds and silverskin by mild hydrothermal
pretreatment. Prep. Biochem. Biotechnol. 46, 406–409.
Couto, R.M., Fernandes, J., da Silva, M.D.R.G., Simões, P.C., 2009.
Supercritical fluid extraction of lipids from spent coffee
grounds. J. Supercrit. Fluid 51, 159–166.
Cruz, M.V., Paiva, A., Lisboa, P., Freitas, F., Alves, V.D., Simoes, P.,
Barreiros, S., Reis, M.A.M., 2014a. Production of
116 Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119
polyhydroxyalkanoates from spent coffee grounds oil
obtained by supercritical fluid extraction technology.
Bioresour. Technol. 157, 360–363.
Cruz, R., Cardoso, M.M., Fernandes, L., Oliveira, M., Mendes, E.,
Baptista, P., Morais, S., Casal, S., 2012. Espresso coffee
residues: a valuable source of unextracted compounds. J.
Agric. Food. Chem. 60, 7777–7784.
Cruz, R., Morais, S., Mendes, E., Pereira, J.A., Baptista, P., Casal, S.,
2014b. Improvement of vegetables elemental quality by
espresso coffee residues. Food Chem. 148, 294–299.
Daglia, M., Papetti, A., Grisoli, P., Aceti, C., Spini, V., Dacarro, C.,
Gazzani, G., 2007. Isolation, identification, and quantification
of roasted coffee antibacterial compounds. J. Agric. Food.
Chem. 55, 10208–10213.
Dai, J., Gliniewicz, K., Settles, M.L., Coats, E.R., McDonald, A.G.,
2015. Influence of organic loading rate and solid retention
time on polyhydroxybutyrate production from hybrid poplar
hydrolysates using mixed microbial cultures. Bioresour.
Technol. 175, 23–33.
Dai, Y., Zhang, D., Zhang, K., 2016. Nitrobenzene-adsorption
capacity of NaOH-modified spent coffee ground from aqueous
solution. J. Taiwan Inst. Chem. E 68, 232–238.
Davila-Guzman, N.E., Cerino-Cordova F. d.J. Soto-Regalado, E.,
Rangel-Mendez, J.R., Diaz-Flores, P.E., Garza-Gonzalez, M.T.,
Loredo-Medrano, J.A., 2013. Copper biosorption by spent
coffee grounds: equilibrium, dinetics, and mechanism. Clean
Soil Air Water 41, 557–564.
Davis, R., Kataria, R., Cerrone, F., Woods, T., Kenny, S., O’Donovan,
A., Guzik, M., Shaikh, H., Duane, G., Gupta, V.K., Tuohy, M.G.,
Padamatti, R.B., Casey, E., O’Connor, K.E., 2013. Conversion of
grass biomass into fermentable sugars and its utilization for
medium chain length polyhydroxyalkanoate (mcl-PHA)
production by Pseudomonas strains. Bioresour. Technol. 150,
202–209.
de Melo, M.M.R., Barbosa, H.M.A., Passos, C.P., Silva, C.M., 2014.
Supercritical fluid extraction of spent coffee grounds:
measurement of extraction curves, oil characterization and
economic analysis. J. Supercrit. Fluid 86, 150–159.
Di Pasqua, R., Betts, G., Hoskins, N., Edwards, M., Ercolini, D.,
Mauriello, G., 2007. Membrane toxicity of antimicrobial
compounds from essential oils. J. Agric. Food. Chem. 55,
4863–4870.
Dias, R.C.E., Campanha, F.G.A., Vieira, L.G.E., Ferreira, L.P., Pot, D.,
Marraccini, P., Benassi, M.D.T., 2009. Evaluation of kahweol
and cafestol in coffee tissues and roasted coffee by a new
high-performance liquid chromatography methodology. J.
Agric. Food Chem. 58, 88–93.
Dietrich, D., Illman, B., Crooks, C., 2013. Differential sensitivity of
polyhydroxyalkanoate producing bacteria to fermentation
inhibitors and comparison of polyhydroxybutyrate production
from Burkholderia cepacia and Pseudomonas pseudoflava. BMC
Res. Notes 6, 219.
Fuller, M.F., 2004. The Encyclopedia of Farm Animal Nutrition.
CABI Publishing, Oxon UK, pp. 111–$9.
Garcia-Garcia, D., Carbonell, A., Samper, M.D., Garcia-Sanoguera,
D., Balart, R., 2015. Green composites based on polypropylene
matrix and hydrophobized spend coffee ground (SCG) powder.
Compos. B: Eng. 78, 256–265.
Getachew, A.T., Chun, B.S., 2017. Influence of pretreatment and
modifiers on subcritical water liquefaction of spent coffee
grounds: a green waste valorization approach. J. Clean. Prod.
142, 3719–3727.
Girotto, F., Pivato, A., Cossu, R., Nkeng, G.E., Lavagnolo, M.C., 2017.
The broad spectrum of possibilities for spent coffee grounds
valorisation. J. Mater. Cycles Waste Manage., 1–7,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10163-017-0621-5.
Go, A.W., Conag, A.T., Bertumen, M.M.N., 2017. Taguchi method to
improve the production of sugar-rich hydrolysate from
non-delipidated spent coffee grounds, and subsequent
recovery of lipids and bioactive compounds. Biofuels, 1–13,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17597269.2017.1309855.
Go, A.W., Conag, A.T., Cuizon, D.E.S., 2016. Recovery of sugars and
lipids from spent coffee grounds: a new approach. Waste
Biomass Valoris. 7, 1047–1053.
Gomes, T., Pereira, J.A., Ramalhosa, E., Casal, S., Baptista, P., 2013.
Effect of fresh and composted spent coffee grounds on lettuce
growth, photosynthetic pigments and mineral composition.
In: VII Congreso Ibérico de Agroingeniería y Ciencias
Horticolas, Madrid, pp. 1–5.
Gowda, V., Shivakumar, S., 2014. Agrowaste-based
polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production using hydrolytic
potential of Bacillus thuringiensis IAM 12077. Braz. Arch. Biol.
Technol. 57, 55–61.
Gregorova, A., 2016. Lignin: antibacterial properties. In: Mishra,
M. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Biomedical Polymers and Polymeric
Biomaterials. Taylor & Francis, New York.
Guo, X., Cavka, A., Jönsson, L.J., Hong, F., 2013. Comparison of
methods for detoxification of spruce hydrolysate for bacterial
cellulose production. Microb. Cell Fact. 12, 93.
Haile, M., 2014. Integrated volarization of spent coffee grounds to
biofuels. Biofuel Res. J. 1, 65–69.
Heng, K.-S., Hatti-Kaul, R., Adam, F., Fukui, T., Sudesh, K., 2017.
Conversion of rice husks to polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) via
a three-step process: optimized alkaline pretreatment,
enzymatic hydrolysis, and biosynthesis by Burkholderia cepacia
USM (JCM 15050). J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 92,
100–108.
Homma, S., 2008. Chemistry II: non-volatile compounds, part II.
In: Clarke, R., Witzthum, O.G. (Eds.), Coffee: Recent
Developments. World Agriculture Series. John Wiley & Sons,
MA, USA, pp. 50–51.
Huang, H.-C., Wei, C.-M., Siao, J.-H., Chang, T.-M., Tsai, T.-C., Ko,
W.-P., Chang, K.-J., Hii, C.-H., 2016. Supercritical fluid extract of
spent coffee grounds attenuates melanogenesis through
downregulation of the PKA, PI3K/Akt, and MAPK signaling
pathways. Evid Based Compl. Alt. Med. 2016, 5860296.
Hudeckova, H., Neureiter, M., Obruca, S., Frühauf, S., Marova, I.,
2018. Biotechnological conversion of spent coffee grounds
into lactic acid. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 66, 306–312.
Cherry, P., 1974. Processing Spent Coffee Grounds for Use in
Animal Feeds. Cherwell Valley Silos Ltd, p. 4.
Chiyanzy, I., Brienzo, M., Garcia-Aparicio, M., Agudelo, R.,
Goergens, J., 2015. Spent coffee ground mass solubilisation by
steam explosion and enzymatic hydrolysis. J. Chem. Technol.
Biotechnol. 90, 449–458.
Choi, H.-S., Park, E.D., Park, Y., Han, S.H., Hong, K.B., Suh, H.J.,
2016. Topical application of spent coffee ground extracts
protects skin from ultraviolet B-induced photoaging in
hairless mice. Photochem. Photobiol. Sci. 15,
779–790.
Chung, I.S., Lee, Y.Y., 1985. Ethanol fermentation of crude acid
hydrolyzate of cellulose using high-level yeast inocula.
Biotechnol. Bioeng. 27, 308–315.
Jalkh, R., Abiad, M., Chehab, G.R., 2016. Rejuvenators for asphalt
binders using oil extracted from spent coffee grounds. Geo
Chicago 2016, 666–676.
Jalkh, R., El-Rassy, H., Chehab, G.R., Abiad, M.G., 2017.
Assessment of the physico-chemical properties of waste
cooking oil and spent coffee grounds oil for potential use as
asphalt binder rejuvenators. Waste Biomass Valoris., 1–8,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12649-017-9984-z.
Janissen, B., Huynh, T., 2018. Chemical composition and
value-adding applications of coffee industry by-products: a
review. Resour. Concerv. Recycl. 128, 110–117.
Jooste, T., Garcia-Aparicio, M.P., Brienzo, M., Zyl, W.H., Goergens,
J.F., 2013. Enzymatic hydrolysis of spent coffee ground. Appl.
Biochem. Biotechnol. 169, 2248–2262.
Kachrimanidou, V., Kopsahelis, N., Papanikolaou, S., Kookos, I.K.,
De Bruyn, M., Clark, J.H., Koutinas, A.A., 2014.
Sunflower-based biorefinery poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and
poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) production
from crude glycerol, sunflower meal and levulinic acid.
Bioresour. Technol. 172, 121–130.
 Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119
Kang, S.B., Oh, H.Y., Kim, J.J., Choi, K.S., 2017. Characteristics of
spent coffee ground as a fuel and combustion test in a small
boiler (6.5 kW). Renew. Energy 113, 1208–1214.
Keenan, T.M., Tanenbaum, S.W., Nakas, J.P., 2006. Microbial
formation of polyhydroxyalkanoates from forestry-based
substrates. ACS Symp. Ser. 921, 193–209.
Kim, D., Lee, K., Bae, D., Park, K.Y., 2017. Characterizations of
biochar from hydrothermal carbonization of exhausted coffee
residue. J. Mater. Cycles Waste Manage. 19, 1036–1043.
Kim, J.-H., Ahn, D.U., Eun, J.B., Moon, S.H., 2016. Antioxidant effect
of extracts from the coffee residue in raw and cooked meat.
Antioxidants 5, E21, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antiox5030021.
Knapp, H.R., Melly, M.A., 1986. Bactericidal effects of
polyunsaturated fatty acids. J. Infect. Dis. 154, 84–94.
Koshijima, T., Watanabe, T., 2013. Association Between Lignin
and Carbohydrates in Wood and Other Plant Tissues. Springer
Berlin Heidelberg.
Kovalcik, A., Kucera, D., Matouskova, P., Pernicova, I., Obruca, S.,
Kalina, M., Enev, Vojtěch, Marova, I., 2018. Influence of
removal of microbial inhibitors on PHA production from Spent
Coffee Grounds employing Halomonas halophila. J. Environ.
Chem. Eng., In Press, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2018.05.028.
Kua, T.-A., Arulrajah, A., Mohammadinia, A., Horpibulsuk, S.,
Mirzababaei, M., 2017. Stiffness and deformation properties of
spent coffee grounds based geopolymers. Constr. Build. Mater.
138, 79–87.
Kwon, E.E., Yi, H., Jeon, Y.J., 2013. Sequential co-production of
biodiesel and bioethanol with spent coffee grounds.
Bioresour. Technol. 136, 475–480.
Lagunas, R., 1993. Sugar transport in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 104, 229–242.
Limousy, L., Jeguirim, M., Dutournie, P., Kraiem, N., Lajili, M., Said,
R., 2013. Gaseous products and particulate matter emissions
of biomass residential boiler fired with spent coffee grounds
pellets. Fuel 107, 323–329.
Liu, C., Pujol, D., Olivella, M.A., de la Torre, F., Fiol, N., Poch, J.,
Villaescusa, I., 2015. The role of exhausted coffee compounds
on metal ions sorption. Water Air Soil Pollut. 226, 1–10.
Liu, K., Price, G.W., 2011. Evaluation of three composting systems
for the management of spent coffee grounds. Bioresour.
Technol. 102, 7966–7974.
Liu, Y., Tu, Q., Knothe, G., Lu, M., 2017. Direct transesterification
of spent coffee grounds for biodiesel production. Fuel 199,
157–161.
Lopes, M.S.G., Gomez, J.G.C., Taciro, M.K., Mendonça, T.T., Silva,
L.F., 2014. Polyhydroxyalkanoate biosynthesis and
simultaneous remotion of organic inhibitors from sugarcane
bagasse hydrolysate by Burkholderia sp. J. Ind. Microbiol. Biot.
41, 1353–1363.
Lopez-Barrera, D.M., Vazquez-Sanchez, K., Loarca-Pina, M.G.F.,
Campos-Vega, R., 2016. Spent coffee grounds, an innovative
source of colonic fermentable compounds, inhibit
inflammatory mediators in vitro. Food Chem. 212, 282–290.
Low, J.H., Rahman, W.A.W.A., Jamaluddin, J., 2015. Structural
elucidation of tannins of spent coffee grounds by CP-MAS 13C
NMR and MALDI-TOF MS. Ind. Crops Prod. 69, 456–461.
Machado, A.R.T., Martins, P.F.Q., Fonseca, E.M.B., Reis, K.C., 2010.
Biodegradable poly(hydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate)
(PHB-HV) composites with coffee processing residues. Rev.
Mater. 15, 400–404.
Maia, S.R.M., Tracy, H., Nick, W., Andrade, L.D.R., 2013. Caffeine
and chlorogenic acids in coffee and effects on selected
neurodegenerative diseases. J. Pharm. Sci. Innov. 2, 9–17.
Maiorella, B., Blanch, H.W., Wilke, C.R., 1983. By-product
inhibition effects on ethanolic fermentation by Saccharomyces
cerevisiae. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 25, 103–121.
Marto, J., Gouveia, L.F., Chiari, B.G., Paiva, A., Isaac, V., Pinto, P.,
Simoes, P., Almeida, A.J., Ribeiro, H.M., 2016. The green
generation of sunscreens: using coffee industrial
sub-products. Ind. Crops Prod. 80, 93–100.
Mayanga-Torres, P.C., Lachos-Perez, D., Rezende, C.A., Prado, J.M.,
Ma, Z., Tompsett, G.T., Timko, M.T., Forster-Carneiro, T., 2017.
Valorization of coffee industry residues by subcritical water
117
hydrolysis: recovery of sugars and phenolic compounds. J.
Supercrit. Fluids 120, 75–85.
McGaw, L.J., Jager, A.K., van Staden, J., 2002. Antibacterial effects
of fatty acids and related compounds from plants. S. Afr. J.
Bot. 68, 417–423.
Meher, L.C., Dharmagadda, V.S.S., Naik, S.N., 2006. Optimization
of alkali-catalyzed transesterification of Pongamia pinnata oil
for production of biodiesel. Bioresour. Technol. 97, 1392–1397.
Monente, C., Bravo, J., Vitas, A.I., Arbillaga, L., De Pena, M.P., Cid,
C., 2015. Coffee and spent coffee extracts protect against cell
mutagens and inhibit growth of food-borne pathogen
microorganisms. J. Funct. Foods 12, 365–374.
Moreira, A.S.P., Nunes, F.M., Domingues, M.R., Coimbra, M.A.,
2012. Coffee melanoidins: structures, mechanisms of
formation and potential health impacts. Food Funct. 3,
903–915.
Moustafa, H., Guizani, C., Dufresne, A., 2017a. Sustainable
biodegradable coffee grounds filler and its effect on the
hydrophobicity, mechanical and thermal properties of
biodegradable PBAT composites. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 134, 44498.
Moustafa, H., Guizani, C., Dupont, C., Martin, V., Jeguirim, M.,
Dufresne, A., 2017b. Utilization of torrefied coffee grounds as
reinforcing agent to produce high-quality biodegradable PBAT
composites for food packaging applications. ACS Sustain.
Chem. Eng. 5, 1906–1916.
Muñoz Velasco, P., Mendívil, M.A., Morales, M.P., Muñoz, L., 2016.
Eco-fired clay bricks made by adding spent coffee grounds: a
sustainable way to improve buildings insulation. Mater.
Struct. 49, 641–650.
Murthy, P.S., Naidu, M.M., 2012. Recovery of phenolic antioxidants
and functional compounds from coffee industry by-products.
Food Bioprocess Technol. 5, 897–903.
Mussatto, S.I., Carneiro, L.M., Silva, J.P.A., Roberto, I.C., Teixeira,
J.A., 2011. A study on chemical constituents and sugars
extraction from spent coffee grounds. Carbohyd. Polym. 83,
368–374.
Mussatto, S.I., Ballesteros, L.F., Martins, S., Teixeira, J.A., 2012a.
Extraction of antioxidant phenolic compounds from spent
coffee grounds. Sep. Purif. Technol. 83, 173–179.
Mussatto, S.I., Machado, E.M.S., Carneiro, L.M., Teixeira, J.A.,
2012b. Sugars metabolism and ethanol production by
different yeast strains from coffee industry wastes
hydrolysates. Appl. Energy 92, 763–768.
Narayanan, A., Sajeev Kumar, V.A., Ramana, K.V., 2014.
Production and characterization of
poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) from Bacillus
mycoides DFC1 using rice husk hydrolyzate. Waste Biomass
Valoris. 5, 109–118.
Nikolova-Damyanova, B., Velikova, R., Jham, G.N., 1999. Lipid
classes, fatty acid composition and triacylglycerol molecular
species in crude coffee beans harvested in Brazil. Food Res.
Int. 31, 479–486.
Obruca, S., Benesova, P., Kucera, D., Petrik, S., Marova, I., 2015a.
Biotechnological conversion of spent coffee grounds into
polyhydroxyalkanoates and carotenoids. New Biotechnol. 32,
569–574.
Obruca, S., Benesova, P., Marsalek, L., Marova, I., 2015b. Use of
lignocellulosic materials for PHA production. Chem. Biochem.
Eng. Q. 29, 135–144.
Obruca, S., Benesova, P., Petrik, S., Oborna, J., Prikryl, R., Marova,
I., 2014a. Production of polyhydroxyalkanoates using
hydrolysate of spent coffee grounds. Process Biochem. 49,
1409–1414.
Obruca, S., Petrik, S., Benesova, P., Svoboda, Z., Eremka, L.,
Marova, I., 2014b. Utilization of oil extracted from spent coffee
grounds for sustainable production of polyhydroxyalkanoates.
Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 98, 5883–5890.
Oosterveld, A., Voragen, A.G.J., Schols, H.A., 2003. Effect of
roasting on the carbohydrate composition of Coffea arabica
beans. Carbohydr. Polym. 54, 183–192.
Pan, W., Perrotta, J.A., Stipanovic, A.J., Nomura, C.T., Nakas, J.P.,
2012. Production of polyhydroxyalkanoates by Burkholderia
118 Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119
cepacia ATCC 17759 using a detoxified sugar maple
hemicellulosic hydrolysate. J. Ind. Microbiol. Biot. 39, 459–469.
Panusa, A., Zuorro, A., Lavecchia, R., Marrosu, G., Petrucci, R.,
2013. Recovery of natural antioxidants from spent coffee
grounds. J. Agric. Food. Chem. 61, 4162–4168.
Parajo, J.C., Dominguez, H., Dominguez, J.M., 1997. Improved
xylitol production with Debaryomyces hansenii Y-7426 from raw
or detoxified wood hydrolyzates. Enzyme Microb. Technol. 21,
18–24.
Park, J., Kim, B., Lee, J.W., 2016. In-situ transesterification of wet
spent coffee grounds for sustainable biodiesel production.
Bioresour. Technol. 221, 55–60.
Passos, C.P., Moreira, A.S.P., Domingues, M.R.M., Evtuguin, D.V.,
Coimbra, M.A., 2014. Sequential microwave superheated
water extraction of mannans from spent coffee grounds.
Carbohyd. Polym. 103, 333–338.
Petrik, S., Obruca, S., Benesova, P., Marova, I., 2014. Bioconversion
of spent coffee grounds into carotenoids and other valuable
metabolites by selected red yeast strains. Biochem. Eng. J. 90,
307–315.
Pujol, D., Liu, C., Gominho, J., Olivella, M.A., Fiol, N., Villaescusa,
I., Pereira, H., 2013. The chemical composition of exhausted
coffee waste. Ind. Crops Prod. 50, 423–429.
Ramalakshmi, K., Rao, L.J.M., Takano-Ishikawa, Y., Goto, M., 2009.
Bioactivities of low-grade green coffee and spent coffee in
different in vitro model systems. Food Chem. 115, 79–85.
Ramasahayam, S.K., Azam, S., Viswanathan, T., 2015a.
Phosphorous, nitrogen co-doped carbon from spent coffee
grounds for fuel cell applications. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 132,
41948/41941–41948/41948.
Ramasahayam, S.K., Clark, A.L., Hicks, Z., Viswanathan, T., 2015b.
Spent coffee grounds derived P, N co-doped C as
electrocatalyst for supercapacitor applications. Electrochim.
Acta 168, 414–422.
Ratnayake, W.M., Hollywood, R., O’Grady, E., Stavric, B., 1993.
Lipid content and composition of coffee brews prepared by
different methods. Food Chem. Toxicol. 31, 263–269.
Ravindran, R., Jaiswal, S., Abu-Ghannam, N., Jaiswal, A.K., 2017.
Evaluation of ultrasound assisted potassium permanganate
pre-treatment of spent coffee waste. Bioresour. Technol. 224,
680–687.
Ribeiro, H., Marto, J., Raposo, S., Agapito, M., Isaac, V., Chiari, B.G.,
Lisboa, P.F., Paiva, A., Barreiros, S., Simoes, P., 2013. From
coffee industry waste materials to skin-friendly products with
improved skin fat levels. Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol. 115, 330–336.
Ribeiro, J.P., Vicente, E.D., Gomes, A.P., Nunes, M.I., Alves, C.,
Tarelho, L.A.C., 2017. Effect of industrial and domestic ash
from biomass combustion, and spent coffee grounds, on soil
fertility and plant growth: experiments at field conditions.
Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 24, 15270–15277.
Rocha, M.V.P., de Matos, L.J.B.L., Lima, L.P.D., Figueiredo, P.M.D.S.,
Lucena, I.L., Fernandes, F.A.N., Goncalves, L.R.B., 2014.
Ultrasound-assisted production of biodiesel and ethanol from
spent coffee grounds. Bioresour. Technol. 167, 343–348.
Rowell, R.M., 2012. Handbook of Wood Chemistry and Wood
Composites, second edition. Taylor & Francis.
Salamanca-Cardona, L., Ashe, C.S., Stipanovic, A.J., Nomura, C.T.,
2014. Enhanced production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs)
from beechwood xylan by recombinant Escherichia coli. Appl.
Microbiol. Biotechnol. 98, 831–842.
Sampaio, A., Dragone, G., Vilanova, M., Oliveira, J.M., Teixeira, J.A.,
Mussatto, S.I., 2013. Production, chemical characterization,
and sensory profile of a novel spirit elaborated from spent
coffee ground. LWT Food Sci. Technol. 54, 557–563.
Sandhya, M., Aravind, J., Kanmani, P., 2013. Production of
polyhydroxyalkanoates from Ralstonia eutropha using paddy
straw as cheap substrate. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 10,
47–54.
Saratale, G.D., Oh, M.-K., 2015. Characterization of
poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) produced from Ralstonia
eutropha using an alkali-pretreated biomass feedstock. Int. J.
Biol. Macromol. 80, 627–635.
Sathesh Prabu, C., Murugesan, A., 2010. Effective utilization and
management of coir industrial waste for the production of
poly-Î2 -hydroxybutyrate (PHB) using the Bacterium
Azotobacter beijerinickii. Int. J. Environ. Res. 4, 519–524.
Sawant, S.S., Salunke, B.K., Kim, B.S., 2015. Degradation of corn
stover by fungal cellulase cocktail for production of
polyhydroxyalkanoates by moderate halophile Paracoccus sp.
LL1. Bioresour. Technol. 194, 247–255.
Serrano-Gomez, J., Lopez-Gonzalez, H., Olguin, M.T., Bulbulian, S.,
2015. Carbonaceous material obtained from exhausted coffee
by an aqueous solution combustion process and used for
cobalt(II) and cadmium(II) sorption. J. Environ. Manage. 156,
121–127.
Severini, C., Derossi, A., Fiore, A.G., 2017. Ultrasound-assisted
extraction to improve the recovery of phenols and
antioxidants from spent espresso coffee ground: a study by
response surface methodology and desirability approach. Eur.
Food Res. Technol. 243, 835–847.
Sharma, Y.C., Singh, B., Upadhyay, S.N., 2008. Advancements in
development and characterization of biodiesel. A review. Fuel
87, 2355–2373.
Sikka, S.S., Bakshi, M.P.S., Ichhponani, J.S., 1985. Evaluation
in vitro of spent coffee grounds as a livestock feed. Agric.
Wastes 13, 315–317.
Silva, J.A., Tobella, L.M., Becerra, J., Godoy, F., Martínez, M.A., 2007.
Biosynthesis of poly-␤-hydroxyalkanoate by Brevundimonas
vesicularis LMG P-23615 and Sphingopyxis macrogoltabida LMG
17324 using acid-hydrolyzed sawdust as carbon source. J.
Biosci. Bioeng. 103, 542–546.
Silva, L., Taciro, M., Ramos, M.M., Carter, J., Pradella, J., Gomez, J.,
2004. Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (P3HB) production by bacteria
from xylose, glucose and sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate. J.
Ind. Microbiol. Biot. 31, 245–254.
Sindhu, R., Silviya, N., Binod, P., Pandey, A., 2013. Pentose-rich
hydrolysate from acid pretreated rice straw as a carbon source
for the production of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate. Biochem. Eng. J.
78, 67–72.
Stülke, J., Hillen, W., 1999. Carbon catabolite repression in
bacteria. Curr. Opin. Microbiol. 2, 195–201.
Takenaka, M., Sato, N., Asakawa, H., Wen, X., Murata, M.,
Homma, S., 2005. Characterization of a metal-chelating
substance in coffee. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 69, 26–30.
Thiagamani, S.M.K., Nagarajan, R., Jawaid, M., Anumakonda, V.,
Siengchin, S., 2017. Utilization of chemically treated
municipal solid waste (spent coffee bean powder) as
reinforcement in cellulose matrix for packaging applications.
Waste Manage. 69, 445–454.
Tian, T., Freeman, S., Corey, M., German, J.B., Barile, D., 2017.
Chemical characterization of potentially prebiotic
oligosaccharides in brewed coffee and spent coffee grounds. J.
Agric. Food. Chem. 65, 2784–2792.
Tokimoto, T., Kawasaki, N., Nakamura, T., Akutagawa, J., Tanada,
S., 2005. Removal of lead ions in drinking water by coffee
grounds as vegetable biomass. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 281,
56–61.
Tucker, C.M., 2011. Coffee Culture: Local Experiences, Global
Connections. Taylor & Francis.
Tuntiwiwattanapun, N., Monono, E., Wiesenborn, D.,
Tongcumpou, C., 2017. In-situ transesterification process for
biodiesel production using spent coffee grounds from the
instant coffee industry. Ind. Crops Prod. 102, 23–31.
Umesh, M., Priyanka, K., Thazeem, B., Preethi, K., 2017.
Production of single cell protein and polyhydroxyalkanoate
from Carica papaya Waste. Arab. J. Sci. Eng. 42, 2361–2369.
Van-Thuoc, D., Quillaguaman, J., Mamo, G., Mattiasson, B., 2008.
Utilization of agricultural residues for
poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) production by Halomonas boliviensis
LC1. J. Appl. Microbiol. 104, 420–428.
Vardon, D.R., Moser, B.R., Zheng, W., Witkin, K., Evangelista, R.L.,
Strathmann, T.J., Rajagopalan, K., Sharma, B.K., 2013.
Complete utilization of spent coffee grounds to produce
biodiesel, bio-oil, and biochar. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 1,
1286–1294.
 Food and Bioproducts Processing 1 1 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 104–119
Wang, C.-H., Wen, W.-C., Hsu, H.-C., Yao, B.-Y., 2016a.
High-capacitance KOH-activated nitrogen-containing porous
carbon material from waste coffee grounds in supercapacitor.
Adv. Powder Technol. 27, 1387–1395.
Wang, H.-M.D., Cheng, Y.-S., Huang, C.-H., Huang, C.-W., 2016b.
Optimization of high solids dilute acid hydrolysis of spent
coffee ground at mild temperature for enzymatic
saccharification and microbial oil fermentation. Appl.
Biochem. Biotechnol. 180, 753–765.
Weigert, B., Klein, C., Rizzi, M., Lauterbach, C., Dellweg, H., 1988.
Xylose fermentation by yeasts. 8. Influence of furfural on the
aerobic growth of the yeast Pichia stipitis. Biotechnol. Lett. 10,
895–900.
Wu, H., Hu, W., Zhang, Y., Huang, L., Zhang, J., Tan, S., Cai, X., Liao,
X., 2016. Effect of oil extraction on properties of spent coffee
ground-plastic composites. J. Mater. Sci. 51, 10205–10214.
Xu, H., Wang, W., Liu, X., Yuan, F., Gao, Y., 2015. Antioxidative
phenolics obtained from spent coffee grounds (Coffea arabica
L.) by subcritical water extraction. Ind. Crops Prod. 76, 946–954.
Youssefian, S., Jakes, J.E., Rahbar, N., 2017. Variation of
nanostructures, molecular interactions, and anisotropic
elastic moduli of lignocellulosic cell walls with moisture. Sci.
Rep. 7, 2054.
Yu, J., Stahl, H., 2008. Microbial utilization and biopolyester
synthesis of bagasse hydrolysates. Bioresour. Technol. 99,
8042–8048.
119
Yun, Y.S., Park, M.H., Hong, S.J., Lee, M.E., Park, Y.W., Jin, H.-J.,
2015. Hierarchically porous carbon nanosheets from waste
coffee grounds for supercapacitors. ACS Appl. Mater
Interfaces 7, 3684–3690.
Zarrinbakhsh, N., Wang, T., Rodriguez-Uribe, A., Misra, M.,
Mohanty, A.K., 2016. Characterization of wastes and
coproducts from the coffee industry for composite material
production. Bioresources 11, 7637–7653.
Zhang, S., Norrlöw, O., Wawrzynczyk, J., Dey, E.S., 2004.
Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) biosynthesis in the biofilm of
Alcaligenes eutrophus, using glucose enzymatically released
from pulp fiber sludge. Appl. Environ. Microb. 70, 6776–6782.
Zhang, Y., Sun, W., Wang, H., Geng, A., 2013. Polyhydroxybutyrate
production from oil palm empty fruit bunch using Bacillus
megaterium R11. Bioresour. Technol. 147, 307–314.
Zuorro, A., Lavecchia, R., 2012. Spent coffee grounds as a valuable
source of phenolic compounds and bioenergy. J. Clean. Prod.
34, 49–56.
Zuorro, A., Lavecchia, R., 2013. Influence of extraction conditions
on the recovery of phenolic antioxidants from spent coffee
grounds. Am. J. Appl. Sci. 10, 478–486.