Bioprotein production from Palm Kernel Cake by Aspergillus terreus for fish feed

Abstract

Lack of protein foods in the world today has become apparent and it is needed from day to day, and competition from the food industry, perticularly the production of animal feed. Bioprotein or single cell protein refers to the microbial cell (primary), which are bred to be a source of protein for animal feed such as fish food. In this study, Palm Kernel Cake used as agricultural wastes are known to have high nutritional value as protein, minerals and vitamins as well as it is cheap. The objective of this study was to investigate the optimum fermentation day for a maximum production of bioprotein content and to screen the interaction between the parameters used, such as temperature, inoculum size and moisture content. For substrate preparation, the pre-treatment of palm kernel cake was conducted with Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) by heating for one hour at a temperature 85ºC to remove lignin and hemicellulose. Then, washed with distilled water until reach at pH 7. Dried it at temperature 60ºC to 70ºC in 24 hours. Then, sieved at 500 to 750μm using siever. For inoculum preparation, Aspergillus terreus UniMAP AA-1 was inoculated into the fermentation media every two weeks. Under Solid State Fermentation, the optimum fermentation time was investigated for maximum bioprotein production was performed for seven days and the interactions between parameters were screened using Design Of Experiment (DOE) software. For the result, day 6 demonstrated the production of the highest protein (0.361 mg). For the screening of parameters, showed that at temperature 30ºC, inoculum size of 2% and moisture content of 45% demostrated the highest of bioprotein production. Analysis results by Design of Experiments (DOE) Software indicated that temperature, inoculum size and moisture content contributed significantly to bioprotein production. Based on this finding, the model equation has been develop for bioprotein production by Aspergillus terreus UniMAP AA-1 using palm kernel cake. As conclusion, for future work, it is suggested that optimization process is conducted based on the result from this study.