Composition and fractionation of sunflower meal: Use of the lignocellulosic fraction as substrate in solid-state fermentation

Abstract

The chemical composition of undehulled sunflower meal (SFM) was studied in order to evaluate its biotechnological potential as a fermentation source. SFM can be fractionated into three main components, a lignocellulosic fraction (LCF), a proteinaceous fraction (PF) and a soluble fraction (SF), which represent 23.2–25.3%, 55.4–57.6% and 17.1–21.4% of the dry weight, respectively. After removal of the PF, the remaining subproducts (LCF and SF), have a high potential for use as fermentation sources. Sunflower meal-LCF is a suitable fermentation source for solid-state fermentation (SSF), as is shown by the growth of different fungi. Trichoderma harzianum S/G2413 growing for 96 h in a sunflower meal-LCF medium produced a protein enrichment of approximately 20%.