Utilization of Fruit Wastes in Producing Single Cell Protein

The bioconversion of fruit wastes into single cell protein production has the potential to solve the worldwide food protein deficiency by obtaining an economical product for food and feed. Using food processing leftovers in the production of single cell protein as substrate would alleviate pollution. In this work cucumber and orange peels were evaluated for the production of single cell protein using Saccharomyces cerevisiae by submerged fermentation. Results showed that tested fruit wastes were highly susceptible to hydrolysis. A comparative study of fruit wastes revealed that cucumber peel generates higher amount of protein followed by that of orange with 53.4% and 30.5% crude protein respectively per 100 gm of substrate used. Percentage of protein in single cell protein was much lower (17.47%) when Saccharomyces cerevisiae was grown on supplemented fruit hydrolysate medium that contained inorganic nitrogen sources but devoid of glucose. Addition of glucose to the supplemented fruit hydrolysate medium enhanced the protein content (60.31%) within the yeast cell. Thus the single cell protein production by yeast depends on the growth substrates or media composition.