Use of Agro-Industrial Wastes in Solid-State Fermentation Processes

Large amount of wastes is generated every year from the industrial processing of agricultural raw materials. Most of these wastes are used as animal feed or burned as alternative for elimination. However, such wastes usually have a composition rich in sugars, minerals and proteins, and therefore, they should not be considered “wastes” but raw materials for other industrial processes. The presence of carbon sources, nutrients and moisture in these wastes provides conditions suitable for the development of microorganisms, and this open up great possibilities for their reuse in solid-state fermentation (SSF) processes, for example. Agro-industrial wastes can be used as solid support, carbon and/or nutrient source in SSF processes for the production of a variety of value-added compounds.