3.4. Ash and minerals
Ash content of the dried cells of P. sajor-caju has been found to be 16.2±0.83% (Table 1).
High ash contents (17.3%e18.2% of total dry weight) were reported for three Morchella mushroom mycelia by Litchfield, Vely, and Overbeck (1963).
Edible mushroom Volvariella volvacea was found to contain 7.18% ash when grown in synthetic medium under submerged condition.
The ash content of SCP produced by yeast usually varies from 7.6 to 10.4%.
Recently, ash content of edible wild Pleurotus sp. was found to be 5.64%.
The major reason for high ash content of the present strain of P. sajor-caju may be due to higher mineral content of whey.
High ash content of K. fragilis was reported when grown in oil concentrated whey permeate.
Higher mineral content of SCP may be beneficial to some special animal feed or human food application depending on the nutritional requirements.
Concentrations of individual elements in SCP materials vary from species to species.
The current study showed that P. sajor-caju SCP is rich in calcium, magnesium, sodium and iron, while
copper and zinc are present in very low amount (Table 8).