AGRICULTURAL ADMIXTURES
20190048307 ยท 2019-02-14
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
C05F7/00
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
Y02P20/145
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
C12M47/10
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
C05F17/50
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
C05F17/20
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
C12M47/02
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
C02F9/00
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
C12M45/02
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
A23K40/10
HUMAN NECESSITIES
Y02P20/582
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
International classification
Abstract
Methods and systems for manipulating varied biological recyclable streams to produce agricultural admixtures are herein described. The resulting agricultural admixtures can be used to enhance crop yield, or as an animal provender. Managing the sources of varied biological recyclable streams can afford agricultural admixtures with controlled properties.
Claims
1. A process for producing an agricultural admixture from a selected biological recyclable stream, the process comprising the steps of: (a) providing a biological recyclable stream using a collection system; (b) grinding the biological recyclable stream using a first grinder and optionally a second grinder to produce a ground biological slurry; (c) adding to said ground biological slurry one or more selected enzymes; (d) increasing the temperature of the first ground biological slurry from ambient temperature to at least one temperature between about 95 F. and about 140 F. and incubating the first ground biological slurry under constant agitation and shear at two or more temperatures between about 95 F. and about 140 F., thereby producing an incubated first biological slurry comprising first incubated biological particles and a first incubated biological hydrolysate; (e) pasteurizing the incubated ground biological slurry to kill pathogens; wherein the method further comprises either steps (f) and (g), or (h)(A)-(C): (f) separating the first incubated hydrolysate into a first incubated biological hydrolysate and first incubated biological particles using one or a plurality of size-based separation methods; and (g) reducing the fat content of the pasteurized first incubated hydrolysate by centrifugation to form a centrifuged biological hydrolysate and centrifuged oil; or (h) alternatively, wherein when steps (f) and (g) are not performed, the method further comprises the steps of (A) drying the pasteurized first incubated biological slurry to form a dried, solid biological slurry; (B) milling the solid biological slurry to form a powdered, dried biological slurry or pelletizing the dried, solid biological slurry to form dried biological slurry pellets; and (C) optionally combining or blending the powdered, dried biological slurry or dried biological slurry pellets with a carbohydrate recyclable stream to form animal provender (I).
2. The process of claim 1, wherein when steps (f) and (g) are performed, the process further comprises the steps of: (D stabilizing the centrifuged biological hydrolysate to form a stabilized aqueous hydrolysate; and (E) emulsifying the stabilized aqueous hydrolysate to form an emulsified agricultural admixture, and optionally adding a dispersant to the emulsified agricultural admixture.
3. The process of claim 2, further comprising the step of concentrating the emulsified agricultural admixture.
4. The process of claim 2, further comprising the step of blending the emulsified agricultural admixture with an additive.
5. The process of claim 2, wherein the dispersant is added and the dispersant is a surface active agent selected from: ACCELL CLEAN DWD (D-16), BIODISPERS (D-9), COREXIT EC9500A (D-4), COREXIT EC9500B (D-19), COREXIT EC9527A (D-1), DISPERSIT SPC 1000 (D-5), FFT-SOLUTION (D-17), FINASOL OSR 52 (D-11), JD-109 (D-6), JD-2000 (D-7), MARE CLEAN 200 (D-3), MARINE D-BLUE CLEAN (D-18), NEOS AB3000 (D-2), NOKOMIS 3-AA (D-14), NOKOMIS 3-F4 (D-8), SAF-RON GOLD (D-12), SEA BRAT #4 (D-10), SEACARE ECOSPERSE 52, SEACARE E.P.A. ZI-400 (D-13), ZI-400 OIL SPILL DISPERSANT, sodium dodecyl sulfate (sodium lauryl sulfate), Arkopal N-300 (C9H19C6H4O(CH2CH2O)30H), Brij 30 (polyoxyethylenated straight chain alcohol), Brij 35 (C12H25O(CH2CH2O)23H), Brij 56(C16H33O(CH2CH2O)10H), Brij 58 (C16H33O(CH2CH2O)20H), EGE Coco (ethyl glucoside), Genapol X-150 (C13H27O(CH2CH2O)5H), Tergitol NP-10 (nonylphenolethoxylate), Marlipal 013/90 (C13H27O(CH2CH2O)9H), Pluronic PE6400 (HO(CH2CH2O)x(C2H4CH2O)3O(CH2CH2O)28-xH), Sapogenat T-300 (C4H9)3C6H2O(CH2CH2O)30H), T-Maz 60K (ethoxylated sorbitan monostearate), T-Maz 20 (ethoxylated sorbitan monolaurate), Triton X-45 (C8H17C6H4O(CH2CH2O)5H), Triton X-100 (C8H17C6H4(OC2H4)10OH), Triton X-102 (C8H17C6H4O(CH2CH2O)12H), Triton X-114 (C8H17C6H4O(CH2CH2O)7.5H), Triton X-165 (C8H17C6H4O(CH2CH2O)16H), Tween 80 (C18H37-C6H905-(OC2H4)20OH), Cocamidopropyl betaine, Ethoxylated nonylphenol, Diethanolamine, Propylene glycol, Oleic acid sorbitan monoester, Coconut oil monoethanolamide, Poly(ethylene glycol) monooleate, Polyethoxylated tallow amine, Dipropylene glycol methyl ether, Polyethylene glycol alkyl ethers, Octaethylene glycol monododecyl ether, Pentaethylene glycol monododecyl ether, Glucoside alkyl ethers, Decyl glucoside, Lauryl glucoside, Octyl glucoside, Polyethylene glycol, Octylphenyl ethers, Polyethylene glycol alkylphenyl ethers, Nonoxynol-9, Glycerol alkyl esters, Glyceryl laurate, Polyoxyethylene glycol sorbitan alkyl esters, Sorbitan alkyl esters, Cocamide MEA, Dodecyldimethylamine oxide, Cetrimonium bromide (CTAB), Cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), Benzalkonium chloride (BAC), Benzethonium chloride (BZT), Dimethyldioctadecylammonium chloride, Dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB), Docusate (dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate), Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS), Perfluorobutanesulfonate, Alkyl-aryl ether phosphates, Alkyl ether phosphates, Sodium Stearate, Sodium lauroyl sarcosinate, Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA or PFO), Ammonium lauryl sulfate, Sodium lauryl sulfate, Phosphatidylserine, Phosphatidylethanolamine, Phosphatidylcholine, and combinations thereof.
6. The process of claim 2, wherein the dispersant concentration (weight percent) is selected from: 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0%, 2.5%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, and 9%.
7. The process of claim 2, further wherein stabilizing the centrifuged biological hydrolysate comprises adding a stabilization agent selected from: inorganic acid, organic acid, organic preservative, or inorganic preservative.
8. The process of claim 2, wherein the emulsification is achieved by emulsifying the stabilized aqueous hydrolysate with a high-shear mixer.
9. The process of claim 1, wherein when steps (e) and (f) are performed, the process further comprises the step of separating the first incubated biological particles into dewatered biological particles and a recycled liquid fraction.
10. The process of claim 9, wherein the separation is achieved with the use of a screw press, belt filter or a hydraulic press.
11. The process of claim 1, wherein the separated first incubated biological particles are added to a second or more biological recyclable waste stream which is processed to the steps of claim 1.
12. The process of claim 9 wherein an additive is added to the dewatered biological particles.
13. The process of claim 12, wherein the additive is selected from basalt, granite, glauconite (greensand), and biotite.
14. The process of claim 1, wherein steps (f) and (g) are not performed and steps (h)(A)-(C) are performed.
15. The process of claim 1, wherein when step (g) is performed, the centrifuged biological hydrolysate is added to the biological slurry from a different batch when the process of claim 1 is separately performed with steps (h)(A)-(C) performed.
16. The process of claim 1, wherein when step (g) is performed, the centrifuged oil is added to the dried biological slurry from a different batch when the process of claim 1 is separately performed with steps (h)(A)-(C) performed.
17. The process of claim 1, wherein when step (g) is performed, the centrifuged oil is further separated into food usable oil and a food unusable oil.
18. The process of claim 1, wherein the one or a plurality of size-based separation methods comprises the use of a coarse filter, a fine filter, or both.
19. The process of claim 1, further comprising the step of adding an anti-oxidant, anti-caking agent, or both, to the dried, solid biological slurry, the milled or pellitized product, or an animal provender (I) to (VI).
20. The process of claim 2, further comprising adding a second or more biological recyclable stream to the stabilized aqueous hydrolysate.
21. The process of claim 1, wherein steps (h)(A)-(B) are performed, the method further comprising combining or blending the powdered, dried biological slurry or dried biological slurry pellets with a carbohydrate recyclable stream to produce animal provender (I)
22. The process of claim 21, wherein the carbohydrate recyclable stream is selected from one of the following carbohydrate sources: bread crumbs, bakery waste, nut hulls, almond hulls, walnut hulls, soymeal, pomace, and distiller's grains.
23. A process comprising performing the steps of claim 1 with a first biological hydrolysate, performing the steps of claim 1 with a second biological hydrolysate, further comprising combining the centrifuged biological hydrolysate of the process from the first biological hydrolysate with the centrifuged biological hydrolysate of the process from the second biological hydrolysate.
24. A process comprising performing the steps of claim 2 with a first biological hydrolysate, performing the steps of claim 2 with a second biological hydrolysate, further comprising combining the emulsified agricultural admixture of the process from the first biological hydrolysate with the emulsified agricultural admixture of the process from the second biological hydrolysate.
25. The process of claim 3, wherein concentrating the liquid agricultural admixture is performed using a vibratory filter, vacuum drum, vacuum evaporator, drum dryer, spray dryer, paddle dryer, rotary dryer, or extruder.
26. The process of claim 1, further comprising the step of: (g) adding amino acids to the resulting products.
27. The centrifuged biological hydrolysate produced by the process of claim 1.
28. The centrifuged oil produced by the process of claim 1.
29. The dried biological slurry pellets produced by any of the processes of claims 1, 14-16, 19-21 or 22.
30. Animal provender (I) produced by the process of claim 21 or claim 22.
31. The emulsified agricultural admixture produced by the process of claim 2.
32. The dewatered biological particles formed by the process of claim 10.
33. The concentrated emulsified agricultural admixture produced by the process of claim 3.
34. The process of claim 1, wherein the selected enzyme is selected from: at least one enzyme to digest proteins, at least one enzyme to digest fats and lipids, and at least one enzyme to digest cellulosic material or at least one enzyme to digest other carbohydrates.
35. The process of claim 34, wherein the selected enzyme is selected from the group consisting of: xylanase, asparaginase, cellulase, hemicellulase, glumayase, beta-glumayase (endo-1,3(4)-), urease, protease, lipase, amylase, phytase, phosphatase, aminopeptidase, amylase, carbohydrase, carboxypeptidase, catalase, chitinase, cutinase, cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase, deoxyribonuclease, esterase, alpha-galactosidase, beta-galactosidase, glucoamylase, alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, beta-glucosidase, haloperoxidase, invertase, laccase, mannosidase, oxidase, glucose oxidase, pectinolytic enzyme, pectinesterase, peptidoglutaminase, peroxidase, polyphenoloxidase, proteolytic enzyme, protease, ribonuclease, thioglucosidase and transglutaminase.
36. The process of claim 1, wherein the biological recyclable stream is selected from: blood or blood meal, bone or bone meal, feather or feather meal, manure, culled vegetable or fruit recyclables, vegetables containing oils, grape pomace, tomato pomace, olive pomace, fresh food recyclables, fish recyclables, carbohydrate recyclables, bread crumbs, bakery waste, nut hulls, almond hulls, walnut hulls, pistachio hulls, soymeal, pomace, and distiller's grains and bakery recyclables.
37. An agricultural admixture produced by grinding a biological recyclable stream to produce a ground biological slurry, heating and incubating the ground biological slurry with one or more selected enzymes with constant agitation and shear, pasteurizing the incubated mixture to produce a biological hydrolysate, reducing the fats content in the biological hydrolysate aqueous phase, and stabilization of the aqueous phase by adding a stabilizer selected from an inorganic acid, an organic acid, an inorganic preservative, or an organic preservative, to produce a stabilized agricultural admixture.
38. The agricultural admixture of claim 37, wherein the admixture is dewatered.
39. A method for increasing crop yield versus a nitrate fertilizer, the method comprising: (a) providing the centrifuged biological hydrolysate of claim 27, or the emulsified agricultural admixture of any of claims 2, 5, 6, or 9-13; (b) contacting the agricultural admixture to a plant or plant component; (c) periodically administering water to the crops; and (d) exposing the crops to air and a light source for a period of more than two weeks.
40. The method of claim 39, wherein the crop yield is increased by over 10% relative to a nitrate fertilizer alone.
41. The method of claim 39, wherein the crops are subject to a high stress condition selected from: high-salinity soil, high-salinity water, low soil organic content, high temperature (greater than 90 F.), and soils comprising low levels of micronutrients.
42. A method of increasing animal weight, or increasing the conversion rate of animal provender into animal weight, the method comprising providing to the animal a formulation comprising an animal provender selected from animal provender (I) to animal provender (VI).
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Definitions
[0300] As used herein, the term biological recyclable stream refers to a recyclable stream selected from: fresh food recyclables, blood meal, bakery goods, spent poultry, pomace, culled fruits and/or vegetables, and mixtures thereof.
[0301] As used herein, the term course screen refers to a screen or mesh to separate pasteurized solids, which can be used to produce animal provender, from the liquid pasteurized hydrolysate, and can include a variety of screening techniques. In some embodiments the course screen can be a mesh screen with pores having 18-60 mesh (a diameter of about 250 to about 1000 microns). In some embodiments, the course screen can be an 18 mesh screen with 1000 micron openings, 20 mesh screen with 841 micron openings, 25 mesh screen with 707 micron openings, 30 mesh screen with 590-595 micron openings, 35 mesh screen with 500 micron openings, 40 mesh screen with 400 micron openings, 45 mesh screen with 354 micron openings, 50 mesh screen with 297 micron openings, or 60 mesh screen with 250 micron openings, or other commercially available coarse screening technologies. A course screen may have opening so 250 microns or larger, or between any two of the recited sizes. In some aspects, the filter or mesh is made of metal, plastic, glass or ceramic. In some aspects, the plastic can be nylon.
[0302] As used herein, the term fine screen refers to a screen or mesh with pores having about 35 to 400 mesh (a diameter of about 500 to 27 microns). The fine screen serves to i) increase particle surface area, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the enzymes used to produce the hydrolysate; ii) assure the ability of the pasteurized hydrolysate to pass easily through the farmer's drip lines, or other similar equipment; and iii) ensure the particle sizes are appropriate for metabolism by soil organisms once the agricultural admixture is delivered to the root zone. In some embodiments, the 30 mesh screen is a vibrating screen. This separates the hydrolysate from particles too large to pass through the mesh, for example, particles having an average diameter larger than 590 microns. The hydrolysate passing through the first screen may then be further separated by filtering through a 200 mesh screen with an opening size of 74 microns. In some aspects, the incubated fresh food particles removed from the hydrolysate by screening through the 200 mesh screen have a diameter of greater than microns. In some aspects the screen may be a vibrating screen. In some embodiments the fine screen can be a mesh screen having 35 to 400 mesh may be used in the second screening step, for example, 35 mesh screen with 500 micron openings, 40 mesh screen with 400 micron openings, 45 mesh screen with 354 micron openings, 50 mesh screen with 297 micron openings, or 60 mesh screen with 250 micron openings, 70 mesh screen with 210 micron openings, 80 mesh screen with 177 micron openings, 100 mesh screen with 149 micron openings, 120 mesh screen with 125 micron openings, 140 mesh screen with 105 micron openings, 170 mesh screen with 88 micron openings, 200 mesh screen with 74 micron openings, 230 mesh screen with 63 micron openings, 270 mesh screen with 53 micron openings, 325 mesh screen with 44 micron openings or 400 mesh screen with 37 micron openings, or other commercially available fine screening technologies. The solid particles separated by the fine screen, having a diameter between about 74 microns and about 590 microns, may be recycled as a feedstock to be digested in the next batch. A fine screen may have a mesh size between any two of the recited mesh sizes. In some aspects, the filter or mesh is made of metal, plastic, glass or ceramic. In some aspects, the plastic can be nylon.
[0303] As used herein, the term grower's standard refers to a nitrate or ammonia based fertilizer and other fertilizing regime with nutrient requirements standardized for a given crop, in current use by the grower.
[0304] As used herein, the term hydrolysate refers to a product of the digestion of a selected biological recyclable stream with enzymes. The liquid may contain small particles and/or oil droplets depending on the grinders used and the mesh screen used to separate larger particles from the hydrolysate, as described herein.
[0305] As used herein, the term agricultural admixture refers to the composition comprising nutritional components released from one or more biological recyclable streams by digesting proteins, carbohydrates (such as sugars, starches and/or cellulosic materials), and/or fats and oils in said biological recyclable stream to produce a composition which contains, for example, amino acids, simple sugars, fatty acids and minerals, where the composition produced by the process comprises at least about 90% by weight relative to the weight of the starting material biological recyclable stream.
[0306] As used herein, the term ground biological slurry refers to the mixture that is formed after the first grinding step, which may be a mixture of particles and liquid.
[0307] As used herein, the term incubated ground biological slurry refers to the mixture that is incubated at elevated temperature formed after the first grinding step, which may be a mixture of incubated biological particles and an incubated biological hydrolysate.
[0308] As used herein, the term incubated biological particles refers to the particles obtained from the separated biological slurry which are separated from the incubated biological hydrolysate.
[0309] As used herein, the term incubated biological hydrolysate refers to the liquid hydrolysate in the ground biological slurry which is separated from the incubated biological particles.
[0310] As used herein, the term enzyme combination refers to two or more selected enzymes added to ground biological slurry, the processed biological hydrolysate, and/or the incubating mixture. The enzymes in an enzyme combination may be mixed together before addition to the ground biological slurry, the processed biological hydrolysate, and/or the incubating mixture, or they may be added separately to the ground biological slurry, the processed biological hydrolysate, and/or the incubating mixture.
[0311] As used herein, the term high-shear mixer refers to an apparatus that disperses or transports one phase or ingredient (liquid, solid, or gas) into a main continuous phase (liquid), with which it would normally be immiscible.
[0312] As used herein, the term agitation means a stirring action intended to increase the collisions between the enzyme molecules and the food particles. In some embodiments, agitation is produced by rotating mixing blades in the incubation vessel, at a rate of 1 to 10.sup.4 sec.sup.1.
[0313] As used herein, the term shear means a cutting action that reduces food particle size, increasing its surface area, and therefore, its interaction with enzyme molecules. In some embodiments, high shear is created by circulating the slurry through a high speed, high shear mixer throughout the digest at rates in the range of 10.sup.5-10.sup.6 sec.sup.1 or more.
[0314] In some embodiments, this disclosure relates to a process described in
[0315] A portion or all of the biological slurry comprising biological hydrolysate and biological particles 105 can be subject to an optional drying step to produce dried solid biological slurry 106. In some embodiments, an antioxidant and/or anticaking agents 109 are added to the dried solid biological slurry. The dried solid biological slurry 106 is subjected to a milling or pelletizing step to form a milled or pelletized product 107. The milled or pelletized product 107 is then subject to an optional blending step with a carbohydrate recyclable stream. The milled or pelletized product, with or without blending with the carbohydrate recyclable stream, can be used as animal provender, as Animal Provender (I) 108. In some embodiments, an antioxidant and/or anticaking agents 109 are added to the Animal Provender (I) 108.
[0316] A portion or all of the biological slurry comprising biological hydrolysate and biological particles 105 can be separated into a biological hydrolysate 111 and biological particles 110. In some embodiments, the biological particles 110 can be recycled into the biological slurry comprising biological hydrolysate and biological particles 105 or with the first biological slurry 102 to be incubated and pasteurized again. In some embodiments, the biological particles 110 can be dewatered via a separation step to produce dewatered biological particles 112 and a recycled fraction which can be added to the biological hydrolysate 111. In some embodiments, the dewatered biological particles 112 can be used as compost, biofuel source, or as Animal Provender (IV) 113. In some embodiments, an antioxidant and/or anticaking agents 109 are added to the Animal Provender (IV) 113. In some embodiments, the biological hydrolysate 111 can be mixed with the slurry which is subject to the drying step to supplement the dried biological slurry 106 wherein the dried biological slurry 106 would have a lower relative particles content from the dilution of the added biological hydrolysate 111.
[0317] In some embodiments, the biological hydrolysate 111 is subject to a centrifugation step to reduce the fats content (oils) in the produced centrifuged biological hydrolysate 114, and to form separated centrifuged oil 115. The centrifuged oil 115 can be further separated into a food unusable oil stream 122 and a food useable oil stream 123. The food unusable oil stream 122 can be used as a biofuel source 124. In some embodiments, the food useable oil stream 123 can be used as animal provender as Animal Provender (III). In some embodiments, an antioxidant is added to the Animal Provender (III). In some embodiments, the centrifuged biological hydrolysate can be added to the 111 can be mixed with the slurry which is subject to the drying step to supplement the dried biological slurry 106 wherein the dried biological slurry 106 would have a lower relative fats content from the dilution of the added (reduced fat) centrifuged biological hydrolysate 114. In some embodiments, the centrifuged oil 115 can be mixed with the slurry which is subject to the drying step to supplement the dried biological slurry 106 wherein the dried biological slurry 106 would have a higher relative fats content due to the addition of the centrifuged oil 115.
[0318] In some embodiments, an antioxidant and/or anticaking agents 109 can be added to any of the dried, solid biological slurry, milled or pelletized product, dewatered biological particles, to any animal provender (I)-(VI), or any dried form of animal provender of this disclosure.
[0319] The centrifuged biological hydrolysate 114 can be subject to a stabilization step by adding a stabilizer to produce a stabilized aqueous hydrolysate 116. The stabilized aqueous hydrolysate 116 can be emulsified to produce an emulsified agricultural admixture 117. In some embodiments, the emulsified agricultural admixture 117 can be blended with an additive. The blended additive can include or exclude a dispersant or a mineral. The mineral can be mined basalt. The blended emulsified agricultural admixture can be used as fertilizer 118.
[0320] In some embodiments, the emulsified agricultural 117 can be concentrated to form a concentrated first agricultural admixture 119. The concentrated first agricultural admixture 119 can be used as fertilizer or animal provender 120 as Animal Provender (II).
[0321] In some embodiments, an optional additional biological recyclable stream 121 can be added to the stabilized aqueous hydrolysate 116. The optional additional biological recyclable stream 121 can be a carbohydrate recyclable stream. In some embodiments, the carbohydrate recyclable stream can be dried breadcrumbs.
[0322] In some embodiments, an optional additional biological recyclable stream 121 can be mixed with the slurry which is subject to the drying step to supplement the dried biological slurry 106 wherein the dried biological slurry 106 would have a higher content of the components of the additional biological recyclable stream 121. In some embodiments, when the additional biological recyclable stream 121 added to slurry which is subject to the drying step is a carbohydrate recyclable stream, the carbohydrate content of the dried biological slurry 106 is increased.
[0323] The inventors have discovered that by the selective addition of centrifuged oil 115, optional additional biological recyclable stream 121, biological hydrolysate 111, and/or centrifuged (reduced fat) biological hydrolysate 114 to the process steps preceding the formation of any of the animal provender forms described herein, the amino acids, solids, carbohydrates, and proteins content can be selectively obtained to produce an ideal animal provender with properties which standard animal provender forms cannot exhibit.
[0324] As indicated in
[0325] In some embodiments, any of the animal provenders described herein can be mixed, blended, diluted, dissolved, ground, or pulverized with any other animal provender described herein. In some embodiments, the antioxidant and/or anticaking agents can be added to any of the animal provenders described herein.
EXAMPLES
Example 1. Procedure to Make Agricultural Admixture for Use as a Fertilizer, Plant Growth Enhancer, or Soil Amendment
[0326] The following experiment demonstrates that agricultural admixtures can be processed for use as a fertilizer, plant growth enhancer, or soil amendment.
[0327] Recycled fresh food recyclables were collected from supermarkets. The fresh food recyclables from was sourced from the produce, meat, fish, bakery, & deli departments of the supermarkets, and was collected by refrigerated trucks within 2 days of being pulled off of the shelf at the supermarket. The bakery fresh food recyclable stream was isolated from the other fresh food recyclable streams and not included in the fresh food recyclable streams used to make the agricultural admixture for use as fertilizer, plant growth enhancer, or soil amendment. The collected fresh food recyclables was kept fresh by storage in specialized, insulated containers that are designed to keep the collected food fresh while awaiting pickup. Collected supermarket fresh food was processed within 24 hrs. of arrival at the production facility.
[0328] The collected fresh food recyclables was weighed and recorded separately as pounds of meat or produce. After the material was weighed, it was emptied into a central hopper and ground into a fresh food recyclables particle slurry using a Rotary Knife Grinder with a pump head.
[0329] The grinder pumped the fresh food recyclables particle slurry into a jacketed digestion vessel, where it was continuously mixed. The enzymatic digestion incubation process was carried out in this vessel for a total of 3 hours. Enzymes were introduced into the slurry, and the material was continuously heated, mixed, and further ground to maximize the efficiency of the enzymes acting on the material.
[0330] More specifically, a first enzyme combination comprising endocellulase, exocellulase and lipase was added to the fresh food recyclables slurry with constant mixing, and the temperature was increased to 100 F., for 30 minutes. An in-line high shear grinder in a recirculating line was then turned on. The high shear grinder was a high shear mixer with a disintegrating head (high RPM shearing action). A second enzyme combination comprising pectinase, protease, and -amylase was then added, with the protease added last, and the temperature increased to 130 F. for 1.5 hours. After incubating, the incubated hydrolysate was heated to between 160-170 F. for about 30 minutes to pasteurize the hydrolysate.
[0331] The pasteurized material was then separated using mesh screens. The hydrolysate produced by incubating was first separated using a vibrating 30 mesh screen with an opening of 590 m. The hydrolysate passing through the first screen was further separated by filtering through a 200 mesh screen with an opening size of 74 m.
[0332] The separated liquid hydrolysate was then introduced into a tricanter centrifuge and separated into particles, fats, and an aqueous phase. The isolated aqueous phase (comprising from about 0.1 to 2.0 weight percent fats) was then emulsified/homogenized using an ultra-high shear grinder which may be a high shear multi stage mixer, to form an emulsified hydrolysate. The emulsified hydrolysate was pumped to the stabilization tank for final processing. The isolated fats were pumped into a separate storage tank for further fat processing. The isolated particles were dried at room temperature. The isolated particles were optionally pelletized for use as a separate soil amendment product.
[0333] The pasteurized aqueous hydrolysate or emulsified hydrolysate was stabilized by adding phosphoric acid to a pH of 2.8, and 0.25% potassium sorbate was then added to preserve the liquid in its pasteurized state and prevent microbial activity while in storage. This material was then sampled and checked for pH and for the presence food pathogens. Food pathogen screening required a 24 hr. incubation period, so the material was held in the stabilization tank for 24 hrs. until it cleared this check. The emulsified hydrolysate was then transferred to a storage tank.
[0334] After stabilization, the hydrolysate was also laboratory tested, to ensure that the contents are free of pathogens (including E. coli and salmonella), heavy metals and other unsuitable materials for use as a fertilizer, plant growth enhancer, or soil amendment. Individual batches were blended, to assure that the aqueous emulsified hydrolysate composition was consistent.
Example 2. Procedure to Make Agricultural Admixture for Use as Animal Provender
[0335] The following experiment demonstrates that agricultural admixtures can be processed for use as animal provender.
[0336] Recycled fresh food recyclables was collected from supermarkets. The fresh food recyclables from was sourced from the produce, meat, fish, bakery, & deli departments of the supermarkets, and was collected by refrigerated trucks within 2 days of being pulled off of the shelf at the supermarket. The bakery fresh food recyclable stream was isolated from the other fresh food recyclable streams and not included in the fresh food recyclable streams used to make the agricultural admixture for use as fertilizer, plant growth enhancer, or soil amendment. The collected fresh food recyclables was kept fresh by storage in specialized, insulated containers that are designed to keep the collected food fresh while awaiting pickup. Collected supermarket fresh food was processed within 24 hrs. of arrival at the production facility.
[0337] The collected fresh food recyclables was weighed and recorded separately as pounds of meat or produce. After the material was weighed, it was emptied into a central hopper and ground into a fresh food recyclables particle slurry using a Rotary Knife Grinder with a pump head. The isolated bread fresh food recyclable stream was separately processed using a separate rotary knife grinder into bread crumbs.
[0338] The grinder pumped the fresh food recyclables particle slurry into a jacketed digestion vessel, where it was continuously mixed. The enzymatic digestion incubation process was carried out in this vessel for a total of 3 hours. Enzymes were introduced into the slurry, and the material was continuously heated, and subject to constant agitation and shear, to maximize the efficiency of the enzymes acting on the material.
[0339] More specifically, a first enzyme combination comprising endocellulase, exocellulase and lipase was added to the fresh food recyclables slurry with constant mixing, and the temperature was increased to 100 F., for 30 minutes. An in-line high shear grinder in a recirculating line was then turned on. The high shear grinder was a high shear mixer with a disintegrating head (high RPM shearing action). A second enzyme combination comprising pectinase, protease, and -amylase was then added, with the protease added last, and the temperature increased to 130 F. for 1.5 hours. In some embodiments, the enzymes can be added simultaneously. After incubating, the incubated hydrolysate was heated to between 160-170 F. for about 30 minutes to pasteurize the hydrolysate.
[0340] The pasteurized slurry material was then directly used as animal provender after confirmation the slurry was free of pathogens, in the case of the pig trials. In the chicken trials and in the current configuration of the invention, the slurry is moved to a heated process tank, then fed into a drum dryer, milled into a powder, and, as needed: stabilized; anti-caking agent added, and pelletized.
[0341] In one optional embodiment, the pasteurized slurry material was dewatered at room temperature to form a dried provender form. In one optional embodiment, the pasteurized slurry material was mixed with the isolated bread crumbs processed by the methods described above and pelletized into a solid provender form.
[0342] In one optional embodiment, the pasteurized slurry material was then separated using mesh screens. The hydrolysate produced by incubating was first separated using a vibrating 30 mesh screen with an opening of 590 m. The hydrolysate passing through the first screen was further separated by filtering through a 200 mesh screen with an opening size of 74 m.
[0343] The separated liquid hydrolysate was then introduced into a tricanter centrifuge and separated into particles, fats, and an aqueous phase. The isolated aqueous phase (comprising from about 0.1 to 2.0 weight percent fats) was then emulsified/homogenized using an ultra-high shear grinder which may be a high shear multi stage mixer, to form an emulsified hydrolysate. The emulsified hydrolysate was pumped to the stabilization tank for final processing. The isolated fats were pumped into a separate storage tank for further fat processing. The isolated particles were dried at room temperature. The isolated particles were separated.
[0344] The pasteurized aqueous hydrolysate or emulsified hydrolysate was stabilized by adding 0.25% potassium sorbate to preserve the liquid in its pasteurized state and prevent microbial activity while in storage. This material was then sampled and checked for pH and for the presence food pathogens. Food pathogen screening required a 24 hr. incubation period, so the material was held in the stabilization tank for 24 hrs. until it cleared this check. The emulsified hydrolysate was then transferred to a storage tank.
[0345] After stabilization, the pasteurized aqueous hydrolysate was also laboratory tested, to ensure that the contents are free of pathogens (including E. coli and salmonella), heavy metals and other unsuitable materials for use as a fertilizer, plant growth enhancer, or soil amendment. Individual batches were blended, to assure that the aqueous emulsified hydrolysate composition was consistent.
[0346] The pasteurized aqueous hydrolysate was then dewatered to produce a dried form of animal provender.
[0347] In some optional embodiments, the bakery recyclable stream was not processed by the enzymatic digestion methods described herein and instead dried and ground into breadcrumbs. In some optional embodiments, the breadcrumbs were combined by mixing, grinding, or diluting the breadcrumbs with the dry or liquid forms of the hydrolysates described herein to produce an agricultural admixture for use as animal provender.
Example 3. Protection Against Crop Stress
[0348] The following experiment demonstrates that agricultural admixtures produced by the methods described herein can be used to enable crop irrigation under high stress crop conditions. The high stress crop conditions can include or exclude: high salinity water, high salinity soils, low soil nutrient content, low soil microbe volume, and high heat.
High-Salinity Water Stress
[0349] A strawberry crop in Ventura County, Calif. (United States) was divided into four separate sections, and each section was subject to separate irrigation and fertilization conditions. A first section was fertilized with Grower's Standard, a standard nitrate fertilizer to serve as a control, the composition of which is described in Table 1 below. This section was irrigated with non-saline water. A second section was fertilized with Grower's Standard and irrigated with 200 ppm NaCl. A third section was fertilized with the same amount of Grower's Standard and H2H, an agricultural admixture of this disclosure produced from fresh food recyclables by the methods described herein. This third section was irrigated with 200 ppm NaCl. This third section was presented with an aqueous solution of the H2H at an amount of 5 gallons per acre. A fourth section was fertilized with Grower's Standard and H2H, and was irrigated with 200 ppm NaCl. This fourth section was presented with an aqueous solution of the H2H at an amount of 10 gallons per acre.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Grower's Standard Composition Analysis Description 20-00-11 A/N Mopsol A/S Sol. 46-00-00 Urea 00-00-62 Muriate of Potash, Granular 00-00-50 Sulphate of Potash 20% (wt.) Iron Sulphate 9.8% (wt.) Magnesium Sulphate (Epsom Salt) 32% (wt.) Manganese Sulphate 00-00-60 Muriate of Potash, Soluable
[0350] The results are depicted in Table 2, below:
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Summary of results of high salinity irrigation using the agricultural admixtures of this disclosure. Trial: Measure H2H buffering effect on 200 ppm NaCl in irrigation water on strawberries # Protocol Results 1 Grower's Standard - No salt Control 2 GS + 200 ppm NaCl Salt cuts yield by 50% 3 GS w/NaCl + H2H (5 g/a) Comparable to GS/No Salt 4 GS w/NaCl + H2H (10 g/a) Highest Production Overall within the experiment
[0351] The results shown in
High Temperature Stress
[0352] Strawberry cohorts were administered with grower's standard, grower's standard (at half the application rate of the control) with H2H (administered at a rate of 5 gal/acre per treatment day) (H2H-low), grower's standard (at half the application rate as control) with H2H (administered at a rate of 7.5 gal/acre per treatment day) (H2H-mid), or grower's standard (at half the application rate as control) with H2H (administered at a rate of 10 gal/acre per treatment day) (H2H-high) to growing crops exposed to high temperature of over 90 F. during the growing season.
[0353] As shown in
Example 4. Analysis and Proof of Batch to Batch Consistency of Agricultural Admixtures
[0354] To demonstrate the batch to batch consistency of the agricultural admixture made by the processes described herein, eleven separate batches were analyzed for their composition. Table 3 lists the proximate analysis of the solid and liquid samples in dry-matter (DM) basis. The dry matter percentage (DM %), crude protein percentage (CP %), gross energy (GE), ash weight after ashing (ash %), acid hydrolyzed ether extract composition (AEE %) which is equivalent to the fats content, crude fiber percentage, and nitrogen free extract (NFE) which is equivalent to the carbohydrates content, were all measured on a percentage by weight (wt. %), for both the liquid hydrolysate and the separated solids. The compositional analysis was assessed by known methods: DMMethod 930.15; AOAC International, 2007, ashMethod 942.05; AOAC International, 2007, crude fatMethod 954.02; AOAC International, 2007, crude protein (CP) by combustion(Method 990.03; AOAC International, 2007) on an Elementar Rapid N-cube protein/nitrogen apparatus (Elementar Americas Inc., Mt. Laurel, N.J.), amino acidsMethod 982.30 E (A, B, and C); AOAC International, 2007, crude fiberMethod 978.10; AOAC International, 2007, acid detergent fiber (ADF) and acid detergent ligninMethod 973.18; AOAC International, 2007, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (Hoist, D. O., 1973. Hoist filtration apparatus for Van Soest detergent fiber analysis, J. AOAC. 56, 1352-1356), sugar profile (fructose, glucose, sucrose, lactose, maltose)by the methods described in Churmas, S.C., 1982. Carbohydrates, in: Zweig, G., Sherma, J. ed., Handbook of Chromatography, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla., pp. 209-254; and Kakeki, K., Honda, S., 1989. Silyl ethers of carbohydrates, in: Biermann, C. J., McGinnis, G. D. ed., Analysis of Carbohydrates by GLC and MS, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla., pp. 43-85, oligosaccharides (stachyose, verbascose; Churmas, 1982, supra), minerals (Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn, Ca, P, K, Mg, Na, S, Cl)by Inductive Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy [ICP-OES; Method 985.01 (A, B, and C); AOAC International, 2007]. All samples were also analyzed for fatty acid profiles by gas-liquid chromatography according to Methods 965.49 and 996.06 (AOAC International, 2007). The concentration of nitrogen free extract (NFE) was calculated as the difference between DM and the summation of AEE, ash, CF, and CP. Gross energy (GE) was calculated using the equation: GE=17.6+0.0617*CP+0.2193*EE+0.0387*CF0.1867*Ash (Sauvant, D., Perez, J. M., Tran, G., 2002. Tables of composition and nutritional value of primary materials destined for stock animals: pigs, poultry, cattle, sheep, goats, rabbits, horses, fish. INRA Editions). The concentration of hemicellulose was calculated as the difference between NDF and ADF.
[0355] The intra-batch CV (coefficient of variance) was found to be less than 36% for all of the parameters, with the exception of crude fiber percentage which has a high CV from the low values. All percentages listed herein for the compositional analysis are by weight percent. For the liquid samples, the DM % ranged from 16.9 to 25.3%, the CP ranged from 19.18 to 25.3%, the GE ranged from 5504 to 6564 kcal.Math.kg, the Ash amount ranged from 3.93 to 9.32%, the AEE ranged from 25.81 to 41.14%, the crude fiber ranged from 1.8 to 7.6 %, and the NFE ranged from 8.26 to 26.51%. For the solid samples, the DM % ranged from 26.1 to 32.7%, the CP ranged from 17.3 to 21.8%, the GE ranged from 4779 to 5288 kcal.Math.kg, the Ash amount ranged from 6.05 to 16.42%, the AEE ranged from 15.06 to 20.51%, the crude fiber ranged from 9.3 to 16.7%, and the NFE ranged from 23.86 to 35.82%.
[0356] As shown in
[0357] The compositional analysis of the liquid and solid compositions indicates that each comprises nutrients which can be used to promote biological growth, including nematode growth for crop yield enhancement, and animal provender.
[0358] Tables 5 and 6 list the mineral content of the agricultural admixtures made by the processes described herein. The intra-batch CV was found to be less than 16.4%, indicating very consistent batch to batch mineral content. For the liquid samples, the wt. % of calcium ranged from 0.39 to 0.64%, of phosphorous ranged from 0.26 to 0.4%, of potassium ranged from 0.93 to 1.35%, of magnesium ranged from 0.08 to 0.11%, and of sodium ranged from 0.37 to 0.58%. For the liquid samples, the concentrations (in ppm, parts-per-million) of copper ranged from 3 to 5 ppm, of iron ranged from 92 to 133 ppm, of zinc ranged from 19 to 32 ppm, and of manganese ranged from 7 to 13 ppm. For the solid samples, the wt. % of calcium ranged from 1.31 to 5.2%, of phosphorous ranged from 0.63 to 2.17%, of potassium ranged from 0.77 to 1.09%, of magnesium ranged from 0.09 to 0.13%, and of sodium ranged from 0.33 to 0.61%. For the solid samples, the concentrations (in ppm, parts-per-million) of copper ranged from 5 to 10 ppm, of iron ranged from 92 to 214 ppm, of zinc ranged from 49 to 79 ppm, and of manganese ranged from 17 to 20 ppm.
[0359] Table 7 lists the carbohydrates content (wt. %) of the agricultural admixtures made by the processes described herein. Each weight percent listed of carbohydrates is the weight percent of dry matter of the NFE component of the admixture. With the exception of the starch content, the intra-batch CV was found to be less than 30%, indicating very consistent batch to batch mineral content. For the liquid samples, the acid detergent fiber (ADF), which comprises cellulose, lignin, and other insoluble fibers but not hemicellulose, ranged between 0.9 and 6.1%, with an intra-batch CV of 60.48%; the ash-free neutral detergent fiber (aNDF) content ranged between 2.7 and 8.5%, with an intra-batch CV of 47.42%; the acid detergent lignin (ADL) ranged between 0.42 and 5.51% with a CV of 71.27%; the hemicellulose content ranged between 0 and 5%, the cellulose content ranged between 0.77 and 2.36%; the fructose content ranged between 4.36 and 6.41%; the glucose content ranged between 6.47 and 9.95%; the sucrose content ranged between 0.02 and 0.06%; the stachyose content ranged between 0.02 and 0.05%; and the starch content ranged between 0.4 to 7.5%. For the solid samples, the acid detergent fiber (ADF), which comprises cellulose, lignin, and other insoluble fibers but not hemicellulose, ranged between 12.7 and 21.1%, with an intra-batch CV of 16.2%; the ash-free neutral detergent fiber (aNDF) content ranged between 20.6 and 31.4%, with an intra-batch CV of 14.17%; the acid detergent lignin (ADL) ranged between 4.62 and 7.4% with a CV of 14.13%; the hemicellulose content ranged between 6.2 and 10.3%, the cellulose content ranged between 9.27 and 13.39%; the fructose content ranged between 2.71 and 4.52%; the glucose content ranged between 3.96 and 6.49%; the sucrose content ranged between 0.03 and 0.06%; the stachyose content ranged between 0.02 and 0.1%; and the starch content ranged between 2.1 to 5.1%.
[0360] Tables 8, 9, and 10 list the saturated fatty acids content on a weight percentage (wt. %) basis of the total fats contents (AEE %) on a dry-matter basis of the agricultural admixtures made by the processes described herein. With the exception of gonodic acid, the intra-batch CV was found to be less than 23.17%, indicating very consistent batch to batch saturated fatty acids content. For the liquid samples, the wt. % of myristic (14:0) ranged from 3.07 to 3.22%, of C15:0 ranged from 0.41 to 0.48%, of palmitic (16:0) ranged from 26.24 to 27.25%, of margaric (17:0) ranged from 0.93 to 1.23%, of stearic (18:0) ranged from 11.94 to 13.45%, of arachidic (20:0) ranged from 0.18 to 0.26%, of behenoic (22:0) ranged from 0.18 to 0.26%, of lignoceric (24:0) ranged from 0.03 to 0.07%, of myristoleic (9c-14:1) ranged from 0.5 to 0.75%, of palmitoleic (9c-16:1) ranged from 3.31 to 3.90%, of 10c-17:1 was 0%, of elaidic (9t-18:1) ranged from 3.21 to 4.0%, of oleic (9c-18:1) ranged from 40.55 to 41.98%, of vaccenic (11c-18:1) ranged from 2.29 to 2.57%, of linoelaidic (18:2t) ranged from 0.01 to 0.02%, of linoleic (18:2n6) ranged from 10.14 to 14.53%, of linolenic (18:3n3) ranged from 1.02 to 1.77%, of gonodic (20:1 n9) ranged from 0.03 to 0.43%, of C20:2 ranged from 0.16 to 0.19%, of homo-a-linolenic (20:3n3) ranged from 0.02 to 0.03%, of arachidonic (20:4n6) ranged from 0.23 to 0.28%, of EPA (22:1n9) ranged from 0.02 to 0.04%, of clupanodonic (22:5n3) ranged from 0.04 to 0.06%, of DHA (22:6n3) ranged from 0.07 to 0.11%, and of nervonic (24:1n9) ranged from 0.01 to 0.02%. For the solid samples, the wt. % of myristic (14:0) ranged from 2.45 to 2.7%, of C15:0 ranged from 0.34 to 0.41%, of palmitic (16:0) ranged from 23.84 to 24.76%, of margaric (17:0) ranged from 0.78 to 1.02%, of stearic (18:0) ranged from 10.24 to 11.57%, of arachidic (20:0) ranged from 0.29 to 0.45%, of behenoic (22:0) ranged from 0.11 to 0.21%, of lignoceric (24:0) ranged from 0.08 to 0.14%, of myristoleic (9c-14:1) ranged from 0.38 to 0.60%, of palmitoleic (9c-16:1) ranged from 2.54 to 3.10%, of elaidic (9t-18:1) ranged from 2.35 to 3.09%, of oleic (9c-18:1) ranged from 37.19 to 34.900, of vaccenic (11c-18:1) ranged from 2.05 to 2.27%, of linoelaidic (18:2t) ranged from 0.01 to 0.02%, of linoleic (18:2n6) ranged from 13.9 to 20.35%, of linolenic (18:3n3) ranged from 1.54 to 2.20%, of gonodic (20:1 n9) ranged from 0.04 to 0.1%, of C20:2 ranged from 0.13 to 0.18%, of homo-a-linolenic (20:3n3) ranged from 0.02 to 0.03%, of arachidonic (20:4n6) ranged from 0.19 to 0.23%, of EPA (22:1n9) ranged from 0.05 to 0.2%, of clupanodonic (22:5n3) ranged from 0.03 to 0.040%, of DHA (22:6n3) ranged from 0.06 to 0.08%, and of nervonic (24:1 n9) ranged from 0.01 to 0.03%.
[0361] The low CV indicates that the processes described herein can produce agricultural admixtures with consistent composition profiles.
Example 5. Blending of Basalt Rock with Agricultural Admixtures for Obtaining Enhanced Crop Yields
[0362] Basalt rock was mixed with the agricultural admixtures described herein after processing the agricultural admixture to produce a mineral-enriched agricultural admixture. Alternatively, the basalt rock was administered to the crop separately from the administration of the agricultural admixtures described herein. The inventors have surprisingly discovered that basalt rock comprises reduced iron (Fe(I) or Fe(II)) which can reduce organic compounds in the agricultural admixtures described herein to ammonia gas (NH.sub.3) or ammonium salts (NH.sub.4.sup.+) resulting in high nitrogen fertilizer compositions. The high nitrogen fertilizer compositions from the basalt-blended agricultural admixtures described herein produced an increase in microbial activity thereby stimulating crop yield.
[0363] The strawberries (cv. Portola) utilized for this experiment were grown in a conventional field setting in Oxnard, Calif. This trial was set up as a completely randomized block trial of one rate of H2H 3-2-1 organic fertilizer alone and in combination with an earlier basalt material application and compared to the basalt alone overlaid on a grower standard compared to a grower standard, with completely randomized data collection of four replicates maintained during the growing season. All treatments received conventional in-season applications of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. All H2H materials were applied in the growers' below ground drip tape during the season. The basalt material was hand spread prior to bed formation. Basalt in the basalt:Grower's standard formulation was applied at a rate of 0.5 tons per acre. Basalt in the basalt:Grower's standard:H2H formulation was applied at a rate of 0.5 tons per acre. When H2H was applied, it was applied at a rate of 10 gallons per acre per treatment. All cohorts were treated with the same levels of grower's standard.
[0364] As shown in
[0365] The results demonstrate that the utilization of the agricultural admixture products produced by the methods described herein in conjunction with a grower standard program adds value to the grower's production. The results also demonstrate the synergistic effects of how the H2H products (agricultural admixture) compared to a basalt based product, and the basalt in combination with the H2H products. Basalt alone provides a superior yield over the H2H 3-2-1, and only when an agricultural admixture is combined with basalt are additional fruit weight yield and increased revenue observed.
[0366] In some embodiments, the amount of agricultural admixture described herein is 5 to 50 weight percent of the resulting mixture, preferably about 10 weight percent, on a dry matter basis. In some embodiments, the basalt rock application rate is 500 to 2,000 pounds of basalt per acre per growing season. In some embodiments, the agricultural admixture application rate is 5 gallons to 100 gallons per ton of basalt rock dust, to be composted prior to application of the mixed compost, to be applied annually on organic crops and/or organic dairy alfalfa or hay or rangeland. In some embodiments, the agricultural admixture is applied once, twice, or thrice per growing season. The basalt rock mixed with the agricultural admixtures described herein can be certified for use in organic farming. The basalt rock mixed with the agricultural admixtures described herein are applied to feed pastures for organic dairies. The basalt rock mixed with the agricultural admixtures described herein are applied to rangeland for free range beef and chicken production. The mineral-enriched agricultural admixture can increase crop yield, or increase forage volume (the volume of food available to animals feeding in rangeland or feed pastures) in regenerative agriculture by 5 to 25 percent, including 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 percent.
Example 6. Processing Soybeans with Lettuce Culls to Produce a High Nitrogen Content Organic Nutrient Admixture
[0367] Organic soy meal may be hydrolyzed in water (9:1 water:soy, by weight) at a temperature range of 140-180 F. and adding an alpha amylase and a protease, under conditions of constant shear, using the systems described herein, at a pH of 4.5, for about 3 hours, to create a soy meal slurry. After incubating the soy meal slurry, the slurry is screened with coarse and fine filters, and centrifuged using a tricanter centrifuge, to further remove solids, to yield a high nitrogen soy hydrolysate. Alternatively, organic soy meal and recycled vegetables (which can include or exclude lettuce, spinach, kale, cabbage, and other leafy greens and brassicas) are added to the incubation tank at a weight ratio ranging from about 20:1 to about 5:1 (of recycled vegetables:soy, by weight). The recycled vegetables may be used in lieu of water to hydrolyze the soy meal, given their high water content. The recycled vegetable-soy meal biological recyclable stream is hydrolyzed at a temperature range of 140-180 F. and adding an alpha amylase, a protease, and a cellulose, under conditions of constant shear, using the systems described herein, at a pH of 3.5-7.0, for about 3 hours. After incubating the soy meal-recycled vegetable slurry, the slurry is screened with coarse and fine filters, and centrifuged using a tricanter centrifuge, to further remove solids, to yield a high nitrogen soy hydrolysate. The resulting finished product is safe for use as a fertilizer to increase crop yields in organic vegetable production.
Example 7. Synergistic Effects on Plant Growth from Combined Treatment of Agricultural Admixture and Bone, Blood, and Feather Meal
[0368] Application of labile forms of carbon, including the agricultural admixtures made by the processes described herein was found to stimulate microbial activity, resulting in rapid breakdown of amendments, including bone, blood, and feather meal. The rapid breakdown of amendments was found to yield faster nitrogen mineralization compared to the absence of said agricultural admixtures. Faster nitrogen mineralization resulted in faster plant growth.
[0369] Although bone, blood, and feather meal are known to stimulate microbial beneficial soil microorganisms (Quilty J., et al., Soil Res., 49, 1-26 (2011), prior to this disclosure no information was known about the combination of bone, blood, or feather meal with the agricultural admixtures described herein on the effects of soil microbe, chemistry, and plant growth.
[0370] Two experiments were conducted, one with soil only to measure the mineralization rates, and one with tomato seedlings to measure effects of plant growth. Three amendments were evaluated: a bone meal mix (Nature Safe 7-12-0), a blood meal mix (Nature Safe 8-5-5) and a feather meal mix (Nature Safe13-0-0). Each amendment was assayed for increased plant growth and mineralization rates, alone and in combination with an agricultural admixture made by the methods described herein (H2H). Controls included H2H alone, and water. The rates of the amendment additions were adjusted to normalize the nitrogen application in all cases. The H2H was diluted 10:1 in water and applied from a rate of 50 gallons per acre. There were eight soil treatment conditions assigned as follows:
[0371] Bone meal only
[0372] Feather meal only
[0373] Blood meal only
[0374] Water only
[0375] Bone meal+H2H
[0376] Feather meal+H2H
[0377] Blood meal+H2H
[0378] H2H only
[0379] The listed NPK (nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium) contents of the amendments, with normalized nitrogen content, and amount of normalized amendment added per experiment (performed in a tube) are summarized in Table 11.
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 11 Summary of soil amendment test conditions. Amount of amendment required Amount of for 1 pound of amendment added per N-P-K ratio nitrogen experiment Bone meal 7-12-0 14.3 lbs 88 mg Blood meal 8-5-5 12.5 lbs 77 mg Feather meal 13-0-0 7.7 lbs 47 mg
[0380] Soil was collected from an unamended irrigated soil previously planted with almonds. Soil was mixed thoroughly by hand at field moisture levels, and stored in a cold room (4-6 degrees Celsius) until the beginning of the experiments. Before the experiments, the moisture content of the soil was adjusted to 40% water holding capacity.
[0381] Bioassay chambers were prepared from PVC columns (31.5 cm length, 4 cm diameter), and were capped on one end with a 6 mm diameter hole, with a mesh covering the hole to prevent soil loss. The holes were fitted with a removable stopper. The PVC columns and mesh were thoroughly washed with water prior to the introduction of soil. The PVC columns were then allowed to drip dry. Each of the eight treatment conditions was replicated five times, for a total of experiments (with one tube per experiment, for 40 tubes). For each treatment, a batch of soil was prepared, mixed with the treatment condition, and divided into individual chambers. The H2H was applied at a rate of 50 gallons per acre, diluted 10:1 in water, scaled down to the surface area of the chambers (12.6 cm.sup.2), such that 0.06 ml of H2H was applied in 0.6 ml of water per tube. All experiments were performed at room temperature. The experiments were performed twice.
[0382] To measure leachate from each chamber, 100 ml of ddH2O (double distilled water) was added the day of application (day 1), and also at days 3, 7, 14, 28, and at 2 months. For each measurement, the bottoms of the columns were unstopped and allowed to drain for 2 hours. Samples were stored in 15 ml plastic scintillation vials at 20 degrees C. until analysis for inorganic nitrogen. Nitrate and ammonium concentrations were determined by colorimetric analysis and comparison to standard curves per well-understood methods (Keeney et al., Nitrogeninorganic forms. In A. L. Page (ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis, part 2. Agron. Monogr., 2nd ed. ASA and SSSA, Madison, Wis., p. 643-698, 1982).
[0383] Tomato seedlings of the Rutgers variety were planted in soils amended as described above, with five replicates of each treatment combination in four-inch diameter pots. Seedlings were maintained on growbenches in the laboratory for four weeks at room temperature after which plant size metrics including plant height, dry weight, root length, and root biomass were measured.
Leachate Analysis Results
[0384] The nitrate content of leachate from all treatments started high and decreased rapidly, but no striking differences were seen in the rate of decrease over time between the treatments, although the amendments themselves tended to be a little higher (
[0385] Although ammonium concentrations were lower than nitrate, reaching only about 5 ppm, they showed a larger variation between the treatments. For example, bonemeal in combination H2H had higher concentrations of NH.sub.4.sup.+ (ammonium) than bonemeal alone, both at day 1 (P=0.03) and day 3 (P<0.01) in experiment #2 (
[0386] Rapid mineralization of the nitrogen from the organic fertilizers (amendments with H2H) was observed within the first two weeks, with mineralization after that proceeding more slowly. Without being bound by theory, enzymatic hydrolysis of urea and simple proteins in the amendments releases nitrogen into the soil.
[0387] The synergistic increases seen in the ammonium concentrations from the combination of amendments with H2H suggest increased microorganism activity which is consistent with the hypothesis that H2H can increase nutrient availability by simulating the soil food web. The combination of low nitrate with higher ammonium in H2H treated soil may indicate that more mineralization was happening due to ammonification (the production of ammonium) rather than nitrification (the production of nitrate).
Enhanced Plant Growth Results
[0388] After 30 days, the H2H and Control treatments had grown the most (
[0389] Without being bound by theory, the counterintuitive decreased growth seen with the H2H-amendment combination treatments compared to Controls may have resulted from breakdown of more labile forms of nitrogen into urea early in the experiment inhibited plant growth. Without being bound by theory, the release of ammonia from such amendments could have a temporary toxic effect on sensitive microbes, although the effect likely depends on soil type and application rate. Such inhibition of microbes could have slowed the nitrification process, limiting nitrogen available to plants, slowing their growth. All amendment types, however, were observed to yield increased plant growth when combined with H2H, compared to the amendments alone.
Example 8. Use of Agricultural Admixtures as Animal ProvenderMeasurements of Animal Weight Growth
[0390] Growing-finishing pigs were fed either a solid diet of corn-soybean meal (solid diet) or started on a diet comprising an exemplary liquid slurry form of an agricultural admixture of this disclosure, comprising liquid and particulates (agricultural admixture diet) before switching to the solid diet. It was observed that the liquid form of the agricultural admixture of this disclosure, made from biological recyclable waste streams could be used as a sufficient feed source for pigs.
[0391] It was discovered that the compositional analysis of the hydrolysates produced by the methods described herein are very close to the ideal protein profile for growing pigs. As described in Example 4, the indispensable amino acid profiles of some embodiments of the hydrolysates produced by the methods described herein are consistent across batches. It was discovered that both dried and liquid (and mixed) hydrolysates provide a balanced amino acid profile to growing pigs with optimal growth and reduced nitrogen excretion. Reduced nitrogen excretion affords a larger volume of pigs per unit area, because high nitrogen excretion pollutes runoff water, nearby air quality, and soil quality. In addition, it was discovered that the hydrolysates of this disclosure include appropriate amounts of minerals and nutrients for use as animal provender, including Calcium, Phosphorous, Copper, Iron, and Manganese. In some embodiments, the hydrolysates can be further supplemented with other minerals when used as the exclusive source of animal provender, including or excluding calcium, phosphorous, zinc, and arsenic. Furthermore, the hydrolysates made by the methods described herein contain higher amounts of disaccharides and oligosaccharides but less starch compared to corn. The results indicate that the hydrolysates are expected to provide more energy as animal provender than corn because high starch and fiber content is known to reduce digestibility of amino acids, energy, and other nutrients (Zhang, W., et al., 2013. The effects of dietary fiber level on nutrient digestibility in growing pigs, J. Anim. Sci. Biotechnol. 4, 17).
[0392] In the growing-finishing pig trial, 64 pigs were split into the solid diet group or the agricultural admixture diet group. Pigs were monitored in three phasesthe first phase of 35 to 60 kg weight pigs (2 weeks); the second phase of 60 to 90 kg weight pigs (for two weeks), and the third phase of 90 to 120 kg weight pigs. In the study of growing-finishing pigs, the pigs fed the agricultural admixture diet were switched to the solid diet during the third phase of the trialthe 90 to 120 kg weight phase. Measurements were obtained, including growth performance, daily weight gain, feed intake, feed efficiency and carcass quality.
[0393] In the trial with nursery pigs, 108 pigs were split into two groups-one group was fed a corn-soybean meal diet, while the other group was fed the agricultural admixture diet for phase 1 (2 weeks), and then switched to the solid diet for the second phase (2 weeks). Measurements were obtained, including growth performance, daily weight gain, feed intake, feed efficiency and frequency of diarrhea.
[0394]
[0395] In addition,
[0396] Although the pigs fed hydrolysate gained marginally less weight by day 28, supplementing the hydrolysate as described herein, for example, by adding carbohydrates and/or de-watering the hydrolysate into a sold pelleted product will increase weight gain in hydrolysate fed pigs compared to pigs fed traditional solid feeds such as the cornmeal/soy feed. Animals fed the liquid admixtures had larger stomachs than the control animals, indicating that consumption of calories from the liquid diet was limited by the size of the animals' stomach. The animals produced less manure and had less diarrhea when fed the pre-digested composition. In addition, feeding pigs the nutrient rich compositions of this disclosure yields pigs with leaner meat, reduced diarrhea, and/or other health benefits such as lower incidence of infections and/or disease.
[0397] The results from the nursery pigs show that the hydrolysate diet was a suitable feed, yielding similar weigh gains to the cornmeal-soy diet, as shown in
[0398] In addition, pigs fed with the hydrolysate feed had reduced diarrhea levels. Thus, in some embodiments, feeding livestock such as pigs the hydrolysate admixture improves animal health.
[0399] Furthermore, it was discovered that the hydrolysate comprised a high level of unsaturated fatty acids, which was included in the animal feed provender. The animals fed with a diet comprising unsaturated fatty acids from the hydrolysates described herein are expected to exhibit a high amount of unsaturated fatty acids post-slaughter. In non-ruminant animals, fatty acid profiles in tissues reflect the fatty acid profiles in their provender. Provender which is enriched with unsaturated fatty acids may in some embodiments could increase the concentration of unsaturated fatty acids in pork (&Se Nguyen, L. Q. et al., Mathematical relationships between the intake of n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and their contents in adipose tissue of growing pigs, Meat Sci. 65, 1399-1406 (2003); Mitchaothai, J. et al., Effect of dietary fat type on meat quality and fatty acid composition of various tissues in growing-finishing swine, Meat Sci. 76, 95-101 (2007)), thereby indirectly enhancing the health of pork consumers.
[0400] In some embodiments, hydrolysates of different fat compositions can be fed to the animals at different growth stages. In some embodiments, hydrolysates made with reduced fat levels using the tricanter centrifuge according to the methods described herein can be fed to weanling pigs. Hydrolysates made with non-reduced fat levels according to the methods described herein can be fed to pigs at later stages of growth, preferably during the growing-finishing period to increase provender energy density and diet palatability (Kerr, B. J. et al., Characteristics of lipids and their feeding value in swine diets, J. Anim. Sci. Biotechnol. 6, 30 (2015)).
[0401] In some embodiments, additional nutrients can be added to the hydrolysate to increase weight gain of the animals for use of the agricultural hydrolysate as animal provender to customize the carbohydrate and sugar balance in the animal provender.
[0402] In some embodiments, additional carbohydrates may be added to the hydrolysate. Carbohydrates may be supplied, for example, by adding bakery goods, or hydrolyzed bakery goods. In some embodiments, bread crumbs, soymeal, distiller's grains, and/or almond hulls may be added to the hydrolysate for use as feed supplements. Distiller's grains can include or exclude: barley, corn, rice, and hops. In some embodiments, the hydrolysate can be in a dewatered (essentially dry) or liquid form when combined with the additional carbohydrate source. In some embodiments, a supplement comprising from 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, or 65%, or any range of carbohydrate percentages between any two of the recited percentages, may be added to the agricultural admixtures. In some embodiments, the carbohydrate supplemented agricultural admixture can be dewatered and pelleted. In some embodiments particulates from the biological recyclables, for example, particulates obtained by filtering the hydrolysate or from the tricanter centrifuge, may be added to the hydrolysate. In some embodiments the particulate matter may be high in protein.
[0403] In some embodiments, the agricultural admixtures fed to weaning pigs may be supplemented with particulates high in protein, while the hydrolysate fed to growing-finishing pigs may be supplemented with carbohydrate. In some embodiments, the agricultural admixture fed to either weanling pigs or growing-finishing pigs may be supplemented with fats, for example saturated and/or unsaturated fats. Supplementing the agricultural admixture with either carbohydrates, fats or proteins includes any process that increases the percentage of carbohydrates or proteins in the hydrolysate by more than 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, or 40%, or by any range of percentages between any two of the recited percentages.
Example 9. High-Conversion Animal Provender Using Liquid Agricultural Admixtures
[0404] The agricultural admixture produced by the methods described herein comprising a constituent which can include or exclude: proteins and/or peptides, fats, fiber, and carbohydrates, can be used as a pre-digested feedstock for animals. The inventors have recognized that the pre-digested feedstock has a higher mass conversion rate of feed to animal weight compared to a standard feed product. Standard animal provender product comprises undigested corn, soy, alfalfa, and/or oats.
[0405] The agricultural admixtures of this disclosure can be used as a high-conversion rate animal provender. Animals (pigs and/or chickens that are usually fed a diet of corn & soy meal) can be fed the liquid or dried agricultural admixtures of this disclosure to gain weight with increased food use efficiency (i.e., an increased conversion rate of food into animal weight). In some aspects, the animals produce less manure and have less diarrhea when fed the pre-digested composition. Accordingly, approximately 100% of the biological recyclable stream processed according to the methods of this disclosure can be efficiently utilized.
Example 10. High-Conversion Chicken-Feed Using Dried Agricultural Admixtures
[0406] The agricultural admixture produced by the methods described was used for hatchling chicken feed to demonstrate the enhanced conversion rate of the agricultural admixture relative to a control diet comprising soy and cornmeal.
[0407] The control diet met or exceeded the Cobb recommendations for chicken hatchlings. The control diet ingredients are listed in Table 14, assuming 90 wt. % dry matter. The composition of the control diet is listed on Table 15.
[0408] The control diet was mixed with the agricultural admixture (H2H) and bread at weight ratios of 100-0-0 (control); 50-25-25 (50-50), and 75-12.5-12.5 (75-25). The nutrient composition of the three diets is listed in Table 16.
[0409] Three cohorts comprising 144 hatchling chicks (broiler) per cohort were fed a diet of 50:50, 75:25, or strict control feed for their first 14 days. The animals were allowed to eat ad libitum. The chicks were divided into six chicks per cage, with 72 total cages. One chick from each cage was sampled on days 6, 10, and 14, to determine the effects of the feed diets on hatchling growth and feed conversion uptake. Representative sizes of the diet treatment cohorts at 11 days of feeding is shown in
[0410] The serum chemistry of the sacrificed cohorts was analyzed, as shown in Table 17. The results indicate that the cohorts treated with Ag-admixtures and bread exhibited higher cholesterol levels than the Control feed cohort, but lower Glucose and Triglycerides content after 14 days of feeding.
[0411] The results indicate that a proper balance of fat content and pH in the feed differences most likely led increased food uptake, which when combined with the higher feed conversion ratio of the Ag-admixture/bread feeds, led to the observed increased weight gain. Thus, the inventors have demonstrated that compositional control of the animal provender, such as Animal Provender (I), produced by the methods described herein including selective fats removal or addition enables production of an animal provender which results in a surprisingly large animal weight difference compared to animals fed with a control diet.
Example 11. Agricultural Admixtures from Brassica as Natural Pesticide
[0412] The liquid hydrolysate obtained from the agricultural admixtures described herein are useful for suppressing or inhibiting soil-pest growth. Feedstocks comprising brassica spp. yield high levels of the soil-pest inhibitor isothiocyanate from the hydrolysis of glucosinolates present in the brassica spp. Glucosinolates are derived from amino acids and are stored in the vacuoles of cells of all tissue types within the plant (M. Morra, et al., Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2002, 34:1683-1690). After tissue damage from the grinding and shearing and cellulase activity induced by the processes and enzymes described herein, glucosinolates are cleaved by added thioglucosidase (myrosinase; EC 3.2.1.1), producing many products including isothiocyanates, nitriles, and thiocyanates. Isothiocyanates are biologically active, disrupting cellular components, including those of soil-pests by denaturing protein structure.
[0413] A feedstock comprising Brassica juncea (mustard green) is processed using the methods described herein, where the processing enzymes include a cellulase to break down the cellular structure and optionally a thioglucosidase to maximize glucosinolate hydrolysis which results in isothiocyanate release.
[0414] In some embodiments, the feedstock can comprise one or more brassica species, including those described herein.
[0415] Soil which was not used for one grow season is divided into three or more parts. One part is treated with water as a control. One other soil part is treated with inorganic fertilizer (Grower's Standard) as another control. Another soil part is treated with the agricultural admixture from brassica spp. feedstock. Another soil part is treated with the agricultural admixture from brassica spp. feedstock combined with inorganic fertilizer (Grower's standard). Each soil part can be done in solo or in replicates. Tomato (cv. Rhodade) seedlings are added to each soil part. To each soil part is then added a measured amount of P. neglectus nematodes. The levels of nematodes in the soil are measured using the Baermann funnel method. General agronomic practices are implemented to raise the seedlings. Each soil sample with tomato seedling is treated separately with water, water with inorganic fertilizer, water with agricultural admixture from brassica spp. feedstock and inorganic fertilizer, and water with agricultural admixture from brassica spp. feedstock. The nematode populations are monitored before nematode introduction, at 1 day after nematode introduction, 2 days after nematode introduction, 3 days after nematode introduction, 1 week after nematode introduction, and 2 weeks after nematode introduction. The soil-pest nematode populations can decrease in soil samples treated with agricultural admixtures treated with brassica spp. feedstocks.
Example 12. Centrifugal Processing of Agricultural Admixtures to Separate Agricultural Admixtures into Higher Value Product Streams
[0416] The processes to make the agricultural admixtures described herein further include the use of centrifugal processing to separate the hydrolyzed slurry into higher value product streams. Hydrolysate slurries prepared from fresh food streams were separated into aqueous, fat, and solid phases using a tricanter centrifuge (Flottwegg Separator (Germany)). The hydrolysate slurries tested had NPK levels of 1-0-0, 1-1-0 (made from high fish content), 3-2-1 (made from high fish content), and 1-1-0 made from 34% red meats. The use of the tricanter centrifuge allowed the slurry to be separated into an aqueous phase, an oil (fat) phase, and a solids phase. The fat contents were reduced from 6-12% (wt.) in the slurry to 0.2-1.4% in the isolated aqueous phase using the tricanter centrifuge. In some embodiments, the isolated aqueous phase was able to be subsequently dewatered by the methods described herein. In some embodiments, the isolated fats were further separated into high-titer fats and low-titer fats.
[0417] The use of centrifugal processing enabled control of the amounts of fats, dry matter, crude protein, and ash in the separated products, as shown in Table 12.
[0418] Table 13 shows the mass percent change of the separated aqueous phase composition compared to the slurry after isolation using the centrifugal processing.
Example 13. Crop Quality Improvement
[0419] An emulsified agricultural admixture was prepared as described herein. The admixture was reduced in fats content to less than 1.5% using the tricanter centrifuge. The admixture was blended with a dispersant to enable facile emulsification and delivery through drip-line irrigation.
[0420] Nine single plant replicates of romaine lettuce (cv. Green towers) were transplanted as plugs into a non-fertilized soilless growing media. The cohorts were drenched three days after transplanting and again 2 weeks thereafter with 10 gallons per acre of H2H 3-2-1 and an organic fish hydrolysate fertilizer.
[0421] As shown in
[0422] The inventions described and claimed herein have many attributes and embodiments including, but not limited to, those set forth or described or referenced in this Detailed Disclosure. It is not intended to be all-inclusive and the inventions described and claimed herein are not limited to or by the features or embodiments identified in this Detailed Disclosure, which is included for purposes of illustration only and not restriction. A person having ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that many of the components and parameters may be varied or modified to a certain extent or substituted for known equivalents without departing from the scope of the invention. It should be appreciated that such modifications and equivalents are herein incorporated as if individually set forth. The invention also includes all of the steps, features, compositions and compounds referred to or indicated in this specification, individually or collectively, and any and all combinations of any two or more of said steps or features.
[0423] All patents, publications, scientific articles, web sites, and other documents and materials referenced or mentioned herein are indicative of the levels of skill of those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains, and each such referenced document and material is hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if it had been incorporated by reference in its entirety individually or set forth herein in its entirety. Applicants reserve the right to physically incorporate into this specification any and all materials and information from any such patents, publications, scientific articles, web sites, electronically available information, and other referenced materials or documents. Reference to any applications, patents and publications in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that they constitute valid prior art or form part of the common general knowledge in any country in the world.
[0424] The specific methods and compositions described herein are representative of preferred embodiments and are exemplary and not intended as limitations on the scope of the invention. Other objects, aspects, and embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of this specification, and are encompassed within the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the claims. It will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that varying substitutions and modifications may be made to the invention disclosed herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The invention illustratively described herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element or elements, or limitation or limitations, which is not specifically disclosed herein as essential. Thus, for example, in each instance herein, in embodiments or examples of this, any of the terms comprising, consisting essentially of, and consisting of may be replaced with either of the other two terms in the specification. Also, the terms comprising, including, containing, etc. are to be read expansively and without limitation. The methods and processes illustratively described herein suitably may be practiced in differing orders of steps, and that they are not necessarily restricted to the orders of steps indicated herein or in the claims. It is also that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms a, an, and the include plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Under no circumstances may the patent be interpreted to be limited to the specific examples or embodiments or methods specifically disclosed herein. Under no circumstances may the patent be interpreted to be limited by any statement made by any Examiner or any other official or employee of the Patent and Trademark Office unless such statement is specifically and without qualification or reservation expressly adopted in a responsive writing by Applicants. Furthermore, titles, headings, or the like are provided to enhance the reader's comprehension of this document, and should not be read as limiting the scope of this. Any examples of aspects, embodiments or components of the invention referred to herein are to be considered non-limiting.
[0425] The terms and expressions that have been employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intent in the use of such terms and expressions to exclude any equivalent of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention as claimed. Thus, it will be understood that although this has been specifically disclosed by preferred embodiments and optional features, modification and variation of the concepts herein disclosed may be resorted to by those skilled in the art, and that such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims.
[0426] The invention has been described broadly and generically herein. Each of the narrower species and subgeneric groupings falling within the generic disclosure also form part of the invention. This includes the generic description of the invention with a proviso or negative limitation removing any subject matter from the genus, regardless of whether or not the excised material is specifically recited herein.
[0427] Other embodiments are within the following claims. In addition, where features or aspects of the invention are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.