Substrate and inoculum preparation The spray-dried PPP, produced during 2007–2008, was obtained from the Starch Factory of the Kamikawa North Agricultural Co-operative, Japan. The potato pulp was proximally analyzed under standard experimental conditions for determination of moisture by the hot air oven method and protein content by the Kjeldahl method. The fiber content was determinedby acid alkali digestion and total ash and mineral contents were determined according to AOAC methods (1975). The fun-gal strain A. oryzae was grown on potato dextrose agar (PDA)slants for 5 days at 30◦C in an incubator (Daikin Industries Ltd,Japan) and stored at 4◦C. Spore suspensions were preparedusing sterile water solution containing 1.0% (v/v) Tween 80.The viable spores were enumerated using the plate count technique, and a volume of 1 ml containing 106spores was used asthe inoculum.