Sustainable food industrial waste management through single cell protein production and characterization of protein enriched bread

Production of single cell protein (SCP) from food waste is one of the promising approaches for excellent waste management. In the present study, SCP was produced through submerged fermentation using selected food wastes (banana peel, citrus peel, carrot pomace and potato peel). During process optimization, combinations of various temperature and nitrogen sources were studied for optimum SCP yield (g/100g). The results indicated that maximum SCP yield was obtained at 30 °C for 7 days on potato peels, whereas citrus and banana peels exhibited the lowest SCP yield at the same process conditions. The SCP compositional analysis indicated that the amount of non-essential amino acids was significantly higher than wheat flour. Furthermore, SCP enriched bread was prepared by adding SCP at different concentrations (0, 4, 8, and 12%). The organoleptic properties indicated that SCP addition up to 4% was acceptable to prepare protein enriched bread. Thus, SCP may be effectively used for food waste management and food security.