Abstract:
The alarming rate of population growth has increased the demand for food production in third world countries leading to a yawning gap in demand and supply. This situation has created a demand for the formulation of innovative and alternative proteinaceous food sources. The production of single cell protein (SCP) is a major step in this direction. SCP is the protein extracted from cultivated microbial biomass. In present investigation, a simple process for utilizing whey protein and converting lactose to SCP in order to obtain products which enhance the biological value of microorganisms i.e., yeast, fungi and bacteria. These microorganisms were screened for their growth and SCP production using whey as a substrate. This study emphasizes on the selected species of organisms proved to be most suitable for production of microbial biomass and protein production on whey. The cultivation was carried out at 30°C on rotary shaker 150 rpm. The best results were obtained with yeast and fungi regarding biomass production. The utilization of whey as protein substrate bacteria was found to be more efficient than fungi and yeast. However for carbohydrates utilization from whey, yeast and bacteria were effective than fungi. The results achieved in all experiments showed that the selected species of organisms could be successfully used for SCP production by using whey as a substrate.
