Abstract:
A large quantity of fruit waste is generated in the country which
goes into waste creating a number of environmental issues. This
fruit waste can effectively be utilized as a substrate to produce
single cell proteins. The objective of the present study was to
produce single cell proteins from locally available papaya (Carica
papaya), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) and banana fruit (Musa
spp.) peel using natural palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer) toddy
yeast under liquid state fermentation system. Physiochemical
properties: Total Soluble Solids (TSS), reducing sugar, pH,
moisture, protein, fat and ash contents of peel samples were
determined. Each extract was separately filtered and diluted to
10% with distilled water and subsequently autoclaved. The
sterilized peel extracts were inoculated with 5 mL natural
palmyrah toddy in triplicate and allowed for fermentation in a
shaking incubator at 100 rpm for 48 h. The sediment was
collected by centrifugation, oven dried and then the dry weight
and protein content were determined. Papaya peel extract
generated significantly (p<0.05) higher amount of protein (52.4
± 0.4%) followed by watermelon (45.2 ± 0.7%) and banana (30.4
± 0.6%). The fermentation conditions were optimized for SCP
production using papaya peel. Protein content observed at 10%
substrate concentration, pH 5.0, at 25 ᵒC and 24 h of
fermentation were 55.6 ± 0.4%, 53.2 ± 0.7%, 54.5 ± 3.6% and
59.1 ± 0.8%, respectively. Based on the results obtained, papaya
peel extract is found to be the best substrate for the SCP
production. Natural and locally available papaya peel waste
could be a good source for the production of protein-rich cell
biomass using liquid state fermentation system by natural toddy
yeast of palmyrah.
