Cassava bagasse fermented by Rhizopus spp. for potential use

Rhizopus spp. are known as fungi used in the production of tempe, a traditional Indonesian foodstuff produced by solid state fermentation of hulled soybeans. Studies on tempe have shown that fungal growth has positive influences on the content of free amino acids, fatty acids, oligosaccharides, water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins in fermented soybeans. This has generated interest in producing highly nutritious feedstuff for animals using the similar fungal fermentation on poorly nutritious agroindustrial wastes such as cassava bagasse, which is naturally rich in starch and fibre. Previous studies have shown that optimized fermentation conditions led to good growth of Rhizopus spp. on cassava bagasse as substrate and the resulting fermented product contained up to 10% protein. Its influence on the vitamin content has not been reported yet. In comparison to unfermented raw substrate, the fermented cassava bagasse was found to contain increased concentrations of riboflavin, thiamine, biotin, nicotinic acid, vitamin B6 and folic acid. The contents of these water soluble vitamins are comparable to some major feedstuffs of plant origin normally used as components of feedstuffs in animal husbandry