Studies on biochemical changes in maize wastes fermented with Aspergillus niger

Abstract

In an attempt to transform the agricultural waste products of maize cobs and shafts into useful products such as animal feeds and reduce the pollution effects of these wastes during maize seasons, they were fermented using Aspergillus niger for 72 hours. The fermented residues were analyzed with regard to proximate composition, mineral composition and some antinutrients content. The results revealed that there were significant increases in the protein of the microbial
fermentation (12.58g/100g) compare with the unfermented sample (5.51g/100g) and fat (7.83g/100g) and (6.04g/100g) respectively. Conversely, there was significant decrease in phytate (197.44mg/100g) for fermented and (282.10mg/100g) unfermented). The mineral contents in parts per million (Na ,Cu, Zn, Mg, Ca, Na, K, and Co) were slightly high, Na was found relatively low in fermented sample while Cu and Co were not detected in both cases. From the results of the work, it could be inferred that Aspergillus niger, a cheap and treated nonpathogenic fungus could be used to enhance the nutritional potential of agricultural wastes as animal feeds and reduce environmental pollution.