Whey utilization by saccharomyces cerevisiae for production of biomass protein

ABSTRACT

Fayoum cheese whey from buffalo milk at different concentrations was used for growth and protein production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Analysis of whey sample indicated that it contained 88.7 percent water 11.3 percent total solids, 2.6 percent ash. The total reducing sugars, total nitrogen and total soluble salts constituted 18.3 percent, 16.2 percent and 3.9 percent respectively. The protein content represented 31.6 percent of the whey sample. Media containing whey, at all concentrations, recorded higher growth with better fermentation yield than control medium. Among the different concentration tested, 5 percent whey containing medium was the most favorable for production of maximum biomass protein. The suitable fermentation period was 4 days. Analysis of the harvested yeast cells on the tested media indicated also that the yeast grown on 5 percent whey containing medium has the highest percentage of protein [55.6 percent of the dry biomass] and promising amount of total sterols. The protein conversion coefficient revealed that 50.5 percent of the utilized sugar by S. cerevisiae was converted into protein