SOLID-STATE FERMENTATION OF APPLE POMACE FOR CONCOMITANT PRODUCTION OF ETHANOL AND ANIMAL FEED

Effect of some factors on solid state fermentation (SSF) of apple poma ce using three different yeasts and natural fermentation were studied. Natural fermentation of apple pomace was inferior to the yeast inocul ated fermentation for ethanol and crude and soluble proteins productio n. The production of ethanol in natural fermentation was almost half t han that of Saccharomyces cerevisae fermented pomace. The optimum time for ethanol production in SSF was 96h. Saccharomyces cerevisiae gave highest ethanol yields. Ethanol production by Candida and Torula was c omparable. Combination of ammonium sulphate and zinc sulphate proved d etrimental to ethanol and crude proteins and soluble proteins producti on both by natural microfloral and inoculated yeasts fermentation. The natural microflora also responded better to ammonium sulphate than th e addition of ammonium sulphate in combination with zinc sulphate.