Enzymatic processes offer an option for the treatment of rich-starch effluents from the industrial processing of potatoes, which has been usually provided by means coagulation-flocculation units followed by settling, filtering or mechanical separation stages. Pre-treatment of these effluents with amylase enzymes increases the biodegradable-soluble COD fraction (bsCOD) by hydrolysis of starch and other complex molecules therein present. For this reason, it has been thought the coupling of an enzymatic pre-treatment with a combined biological process (anaerobic + aerobic) as an alternative treatment for these starchy liquid streams. This “enzymatic-biological” concept would allow valuable biogas for its own operational needs and to reduce relevant environmental impacts regarding to the typical physicochemical processes, such as elevated consumption of energy and chemicals, as well the production of hardly biodegradable sludge. The apparent environmental advantages claimed by the enzymatic-biological treatment concept (alternative scenario) have been elucidated through a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) against a solely physicochemical-based treatment (baseline scenario). Inventory data for the enzymatic pre-treatment were obtained and fitted from lab-scale tests, whilst average operational data were assumed for the anaerobic and aerobic units, as well for the baseline scenario. Environmental benefits have been unfolded by evaluating three mid-point environmental categories prioritized in this study, namely, global power warming, eutrophication potential and non-renewable energy consumption. The LCA results suggest the possible replacement of the physicochemical-based approach to treat starchy streams by applying the alternative enzymatic-biological process proposed in this study.

酶促工艺为处理来自马铃薯工业加工的富含淀粉的流出物提供了一种选择，这通常通过混凝-絮凝单元随后进行沉降、过滤或机械分离阶段来提供。用淀粉酶对这些流出物进行预处理，通过水解其中存在的淀粉和其他复杂分子，增加了可生物降解的可溶性 COD 部分 (bsCOD)。出于这个原因，人们认为将酶预处理与组合生物过程（厌氧 + 好氧）相结合，作为这些含淀粉液体流的替代处理方法。这种“酶促生物”概念将允许有价值的沼气满足其自身的操作需求，并减少与典型物理化学过程相关的环境影响，例如能源和化学品消耗的增加，以及难以生物降解的污泥的产生。酶促生物处理概念（替代方案）所声称的明显环境优势已通过与仅基于物理化学的处理（基线方案）进行比较生命周期评估 (LCA) 来阐明。酶预处理的库存数据是从实验室规模的测试中获得和拟合的，同时假设厌氧和需氧装置以及基线情景的平均操作数据。通过评估本研究中优先考虑的三个中点环境类别，即全球电力变暖、富营养化潜力和不可再生能源消耗，已经展现了环境效益。