• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.270-274
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• 2017

Formic acid has been known as one of key sources of hydrogen. Among various monometallic catalysts, hydrogen can be efficiently produced on Pd catalyst. However, the catalytic activity of Pd is gradually reduced by the blocking of active sites by CO, which is formed from the unwanted indirect oxidation of formic acid. One of promising solutions to overcome such issue is the design of alloy catalyst by adding other metal into Pd since alloying effect (such as ligand and strain effect) can increase the chance to mitigate CO poisoning issue. In this study, we have investigated formic acid deposition on the bimetallic $Pd/Pd_3Fe$ core-shell nanocatalyst using DFT (density functional theory) calculation. In comparison to Pd catalyst, the activation energy of formic acid dehydrogenation is greatly reduced on $Pd/Pd_3Fe$ catalyst. In order to understand the importance of alloying effects in catalysis, we decoupled the strain effect from ligand effect. We found that both strain effect and ligand effect reduced the binding energy of HCOO by 0.03 eV and 0.29 eV, respectively, compared to the pure Pd case. Our DFT analysis of electronic structure suggested that such decrease of HCOO binding energy is related to the dramatic reduction of density of state near the fermi level.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.149-154
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• 2003

The hydrogen-producing bacterium was isolated from fresh water and identified as Enterobacter cloacae. The isolated was named Enterobacter cloacae YJ-1. In batch culture, The optimum cultivation temperature and pH of strain YJ-1 was 35℃ and 7.5, respectively. All of the added glucose was consumed completely during fermentation even though pH was not controlled. Amount of hydrogen produced on each condition of 2% glucose, 4% sucrose and 5% fructose was 950, 1000 and 948 mL/L, respectively and resulted in increasing hydrogen production approximately 2.5-times more than controlled condition. The maximum hydrogen production was obtained when 50 mM phosphate was added. In repeated-batch culture, hydrogen gas of 1920 mL/L was totally produced for 48. The maximum hydrogen was produced on the condition of 0.5% yeast extract, but the production amount was not changed on the condition of over 0.5%. Most of the organic acids produced during the fermentation were formic and acetic acid, and propionic acid was moiety also generated.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1038-1048
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• 2021

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the effect of storage time and formic acid (FA) on fermentation characteristics, epiphytic microflora, carbohydrate components and in vitro digestibility of rice straw silage. Methods: Fresh rice straw was ensiled with four levels of FA (0%, 0.2%, 0.4%, and 0.6% of fresh weight) for 3, 6, 9, 15, 30, and 60 d. At each time point, the silos were opened and sampled for chemical and microbial analyses. Meanwhile, the fresh and 60-d ensiled rice straw were further subjected to in vitro analyses. Results: The results showed that 0.2% and 0.6% FA both produced well-preserved silages with low pH value and undetected butyric acid, whereas it was converse for 0.4% FA. The populations of enterobacteria, yeasts, moulds and aerobic bacteria were suppressed by 0.2% and 0.6% FA, resulting in lower dry matter loss, ammonia nitrogen and ethanol content (p<0.05). The increase of FA linearly (p<0.001) decreased neutral detergent fibre and hemicellulose, linearly (p<0.001) increased residual water soluble carbohydrate, glucose, fructose and xylose. The in vitro gas production of rice straw was decreased by ensilage but the initial gas production rate was increased, and further improved by FA application (p<0.05). No obvious difference of FA application on in vitro digestibility of dry matter, neutral detergent fibre, and acid detergent fibre was observed (p>0.05). Conclusion: The 0.2% FA application level promoted lactic acid fermentation while 0.6% FA restricted all microbial fermentation of rice straw silages. Rice straw ensiled with 0.2% FA or 0.6% FA improved its nutrient preservation without affecting digestion, with the 0.6% FA level best.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.96-102
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• 2011

In this study, we examined the effects of formic acid administration to the drinking water on performance, intestinal microflora and carcass contamination in male broilers. A total of 312 day-old male broiler chicks were allocated to two groups with three replicates. The first group (control) received normal drinking water (pH 7.4) during the experiment. The second group consumed acidified drinking water (pH 4.5) after 5 d of age. At 43 d of age, twelve birds were randomly selected from the control group to determine the effect of acidified drinking water on carcass contamination. These birds were only given normal or acidified (pH 3) drinking water for 8 h prior to slaughter. The reduction of water pH from 7.4 to 4.5 significantly decreased body weights of male broilers at 21 and 42 d of age. However, no differences were observed between male broilers given normal and acidified drinking water in terms of feed intake, feed conversion ratio and mortality. The pH value of the gizzard contents was not significantly affected by acid water treatment. There were no significant differences in the intestinal population of E. coli, total organism and Salmonella between the groups. The total organism and E. coli counts of the carcass slightly decreased in the acidified group. No Salmonella was identified in carcass samples of any of the treatment groups. The results showed that drinking water acidification did not provide beneficial effects on performance, intestinal microflora and carcass contamination in male broilers.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.266-269
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• 1993

The production of free non-volatile and volatile organic acids in Kimchi during fermentations at 30, 20 and $5^{\circ}C$, were determined by gas chromatography. The order in the amount of non-volatile organic acid, soon after preparation, was malic, citric, tartaric, pyroglutamic, oxalic, lactic, succinic and ${\alpha}-ketoglutaric$ acids. The major non-volatile acids at the optimum ripening time were malic, tartaric, citric and lactic acids, and as the temperature was lowered, the amount of lactic, succinic, oxalic, pyroglutamic and fumaric acids increased, while that of malic and tartaric acids decreased. The order in the amount of volatile acids at the beginning was acetic, butyric, propionic and formic acids. Among these acids, acetic acid was significantly increased in its amount during fermentation and the Kimchi fermented at low temperature produced more acetic acid than that fermented at high temperature.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.1583-1591
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• 2003

The influence of varying levels of urea and additives on nitrogen (N) retention and chemical composition of wheat straw was studied. The wheat straw was treated with 4, 6 and 8% urea and ensiled with 1.5, 2 and 2.5% of acetic or formic acid and 2, 4 and 6% of corn steep liquor (CSL) or acidified molasses for 15 days. The N content of wheat straw was significantly different across all treatments. The N content of urea treated wheat straw was increased with the increasing level of urea. The N content was higher in urea treated wheat straw ensiled with acetic or formic acid as compared to urea treated wheat straw ensiled without these organic acids. The N content of urea treated wheat straw was further enhanced when it was ensiled with CSL or acidified molasses. This effect was significant across all levels of urea used to treat the wheat straw. Nitrogen retention in urea treated wheat straw was decreased linearly as the urea level was increased to treat the wheat straw. The N content was increased linearly when higher levels of CSL or acidified molasses were used to ensile the urea treated wheat straw. Most of the N in urea treated wheat straw was held as neutral detergent insoluble N (NDIN). The NDIN content was increased linearly with the increasing levels of urea and additives. The neutral detergent fiber (NDF) contents were higher in urea treated wheat straw ensiled with acetic or formic acid as compared to urea treated wheat straw ensiled without additive. The NDF content further increased in urea treated wheat straw ensiled with CSL and acidified molasses. The entire increase in NDF content was because of fiber bound N. The hemicellulose content of urea treated wheat straw ensiled with CSL or acidified molasses was higher as compared to urea treated wheat straw ensiled with acetic or formic acid. The acid detergent fiber content of urea treated wheat straw ensiled with or without additives remained statistically non-significant. The cellulose contents of wheat straw was linearly reduced when urea level was increased from 4 to 6 and 8% to treat the wheat straw. This effect was further enhanced when urea treated wheat straw was ensiled with different additives. The results of the present study indicated that fermentable carbohydrates might improve the Nitrogen retention and bring the favorable changes in physiochemical nature of wheat straw. However, biological evaluation of urea treated wheat straw ensiled with fermentable carbohydrates is required.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.386-392
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• 1991

Whole cells of Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b, the obligate methylotroph, were used to produce propylene oxide from propane. This strain has methane monooxygenase, which catalyzes the conversion methane to methanol and can catalyze also the conversion propane to propylene oxide. Optimal condition for the production of propylene oxide was investigated in resting-whole cell system. The optimal pH and temperature was 7.0 and $35^{\circ}C$ respectively. The end product, propylene oxide, didn't inhibit the production of propylene oxide and was not further metabolized in reaction mixture. The addition of methane metabolites (methanol, formaldehde and formic acid) to the reaction mixture stimulated formation of propylene oxide by $3{\sim}4$ times, and methanol was the most effective especially. Under the optimal conditions, the 14.2 mM of propylene oxide was produced after incubation of 60 min. and the conversion ratio of propane to propylene oxide was approximately 8%.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.191-196
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• 2015

Blueberry juice possesses rich-procyanidins and - anthocyanidin, comprised a group of with numerous health benefits such as protection against coronary heart disease, detoxification, and obesity. Blueberry (Vaccinium virgatum) juice extracts were analyzed and separated by an HPLC method for the purpose of the separation and quantification in polyphenolic groups. In specific HPLC conditions, a binary mobile phase consisting of formic acid: water (10:90, v/v, solvent A) and formic acid: water: acetonitrile (10:60:30, v/v/v, solvent B) was utilized and it is detected at 546 nm wavelength. The phenolic contents of the extracts are determined using Folin-Ciocalteu phenol reagent. In order to test anti-inflammation activity assay, after producing nitric oxide (NO) in lipopolysaccharide activated RAW 264.7 cells, at concentration of $20-500{\mu}g/mL$ it reduced to NO production at a dose-dependent manner. Importantly, cytotoxicity assay with up to $500{\mu}g/mL$ of the extract from blueberry juice showed ~100% cell viability for RAW264.7 cell line. Therefore, Korean blueberry juice might have potential as anti-oxidant and antiinflammation agents.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.77-82
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• 2003

This investigation was conducted to study the effect of dietary formic acid (FA) and propionic acid (PA) mixture on inhibitory effect of Salmonella pullorum in layer chicks. Nine groups of one day-old layer chicks in addition to positive and negative controls, were fed with acids treated feed containing mixture of different acids concentrations, from 0.5% and 0.5% up to 1.5% and 1.5% FA and PA, respectively. Positive and negative controls were fed untreated feed. Groups except the negative control were challenged orally on day three with $10^4$ cfu/ml S. pullorum. Cloacal swabs were taken at three successive days and at 7, 14 and 21 days of challenge. After 1, 2 and 3 weeks after challenge, 4 chicks from each group were sacrificed and crop and cecal contents were examined for S. pullorum and pH. The numbers of S. pullorum positive culture from the excretion of all treated groups except groups treated with mixture of 0.5% and 0.5%, 1% and 0.5%, 0.5% and 1% FA and PA decreased significantly (p<0.05) as compared with the positive control. The mortality rates of all treated groups except the group treated with 0.5% FA and 0.5% PA were decreased significantly (p<0.05) as compared with the positive control. The treatment significantly (p<0.05) lowered the pH of the crop and cecal contents in all groups except the group treated with 0.5% FA and 0.5% PA as compared with the control. Also, the treatment significantly (p<0.05) lowered the pH of the crop and cecal contents in all groups after three weeks of treatment compared to the first and second weeks. The treatments significantly (p<0.05) lowered the frequency of S. pullorum recovery from crop and cecal contents in six groups treated with 1.5 and 0.5, 1 and 1, 1.5 and 1, 0.5 and 1.5, 1 and 1.5, 1.5% and 1.5% FA and PA respectively. These results indicate that addition of FA and PA mixture in a total concentration of 2 % or more to the diet of newly hatched infected layer chicks significantly decreases the crop and cecal colonization by S. pullorum and significantly decreases S. pullorum fecal excretion and reduced the chick mortality rate.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.89-95
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• 1998

Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides K7 and E15-1 produced hydrogen from glucose rapidly for the first 24 hrs of culture under the anaerobic and photosynthetic conditions and then ceased the hydrogen production because of the accumulation of organic acids such as acetic acid and formic acid in the culture broth, decreasing the pH to 4.2-4.5. Only 43% and 73% of glucose in the culture were consumed even after 6 days of incubation by R. sphaeroides K7 and E15-1, respectively. The hydrogen production and glucose consumption, however, were substantially increased when the pH of the culture was adjusted to 6.8-7.0: Hydrogen production continues even after 10 days of culture and glucose was consumed completely after 2.5 and 4.5 days by R. sphaeroides K7 and E15-1, respectively, Furthermore, the bacteriochlorophyll contents in R. sphaeroides K7 and E15-1 were increased by 44 and 9 folds and the cell concentrations by 10 and 2.5 folds, respectively, after 7 days of culture. R. sphaeroides K7 and E15-1 also produced hydrogen from acetic, lactic, butyric and malic acids under the anaerobic and photosynthetic conditions even though the amounts of hydrogen produced were lower than that from glucose. The results of this experiment indicate that under the anaerobic and synthetic conditions R. sphaeroides K7 and E15-1 might use the NADH oxidation mediated by ferredoxin and hydrogenase to evolve hydrogen from glucose for the first 24 hrs and then the organic acids produced were used as electron donners for the production of hydrogen in the nitrogen-limited condition.