3.3. Protein enrichment
Several fungal species have been studied aiming at single-cell
protein production in a variety of substrates (Oduguwa et al.,
2008) and an increase in protein content has been observed when
using smaller rice bran particles. In the present study, the increase
in particle size caused a negative effect on protein gain (Fig. 1b).
Similar results were reported by Membrillo et al. (2011), who
found that the physical characteristics of sugar cane bagasse fibers
strongly influence solid-state fermentation. The authors found that
protein content and biomass were not always proportional. Valera
et al. (2005) investigated the effect of wheat bran fractions on solid
state fermentation with Aspergillus flavipes for the production of
lovastatin and found that smaller particles produced the best results.
Membrillo et al. (2008) also found more pronounced protein
enrichment during Pleurotus ostreatus fermentation of sugar cane
bagasse with a in smaller particle size.