Abstract—The objective of the study was to produce single cell protein usually termed as microbial biomass using rice as substrate through fermentation with Aspergillus terreus and its biological evaluation in broiler chicks to examine its potential as a suitable poultry feed. Chemical and biological potential of the biomass was evaluated through chemical analysis and chick assay, respectively. After optimizing various conditions such as, substrate: water ratio, nitrogen source, carbon: nitrogen ratio, pH and incubation period. After optimizing fermentation conditions, Aspergillus terreus was grown on broken rice for maximum microbial biomass protein production. Regarding growth kinetics, the specific growth rate (μ) of the A. terreus remained 0.451h-1. The Product coefficients (Yx/s) , (Yp/s) , (Yp/x) for the fermentative organism were found 0.553 g cell/g substrate utilized, 0.344 g protein / g substrate utilized and 0.622 g protein / g cell mass formation, respectively. Chemical evaluation of biomass indicated crude protein 43.7 %, true protein 26.60 %, crude fiber 11.35 % with calorific value as 2730 Kcal. Its ash content was 15.20 % with 1.01 % calcium, 3.05 % phosphorus, 0.64 % sodium and 0.98 % chloride. For biological evaluation, biomass was replaced with soybean meal as 30 ad 60% on the basis of protein supply and the birds response in terms of weight gain, feed consumption, feed efficiency, feed conversion ratio, protein efficiency ratio and net protein utilization was taken into account. Outcome of the study revealed that microbial biomass produced by A. terreus can be replaced upto 30% of the protein supply by soybean meal without any deleterious effects on growing broiler chicks.

Index Terms—Chemical and Biological Evaluation, Growing Broilers, Microbial Protein.

Dr. Muhammad Aasif Shahzad is working as Assistant Professor at the Institute of Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan. (*Corresponding author; phone: +92 321 6642404; fax: +92 41 9200137 E-mail: draasifshah@uaf.edu.pk).
Muhammad Ibrahim Rajoka is a renowned scientist (Biotechnologist) and currently working as Professor at the Department of Bio-informatics, Government College University, Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan.

Cite: Shahzad. M. A and M. I. Rajoka, "Single Cell Protein Production from Aspergillus Terreus and Its Evaluation in Broiler Chick," International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 137-141, 2011.