Abstract

The recent expansion in the number of biorefineries, due in particular to the advent of the biofuels industry, has led to a massive production of agro-industrial solid residues as by-products. Solid state bioprocessing (SSB) has been targeted as a high-priority technology for the treatment of this type of residues. In this research, the utilisation of SSB technologies using the edible fungus Rhizopus oryzae as a potential method for increasing the shelf life of animal feed, produced from the residues of a wheat bioethanol plant, has been investigated.Experimental results showed that R. oryzae is able to prevent the growth of undesired microorganisms for at least 20 days. Samples that were not inoculated with R. oryzae showed growth after just 2 days and samples that were dosed with a commercial preservative experienced growth of pathogens after 7 days. Currently, preservatives (organic acids) are added to the solid wastes to avoid biodegradation but clearly increase the production costs. It was estimated that for a bioethanol plant producing 180,000tpa of animal feed the substitution of organic acids for the proposed method using SSB would represent savings of up to 500,000 USD/year.

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