Characterization of Microbial Biomasses and Amylolytic Preparations Obtained from Mussel

This work describes a treatment of glycogen-rich wastes from industrial mussel processing, involving the production of a protein fraction and a medium suitable for the culture of amylolytic microfungi. A strain of Aspergillus oryzae was chosen which allows the simultaneous production of single cell protein and a highly stable amylolytic preparation. The characteristics of the biomass obtained (proportion and in vitro digestibility of the proteins, levels of essential amino acids and nucleic acids, types of fatty acids present) were shown to be suitable, in principle, for animal feeds. The amylolytic preparation, obtained by ultrafiltration (with cut-off at 30 kD) of the cell-free medium, was very similar to commercial α-amylase preparations, containing mainly α-amylase, together with a small proportion of glucoamylase.