Biotechnological potential of agro-industrial residues. II: cassava bagasse

Advances in industrial biotechnology offer potential opportunities for econ omic utilization of agro-industrial residues such as cassava bagasse. Cassa va bagasse, which is a fibrous material, is the by-product of the cassava-p rocessing industry. It contains about 30-50% starch on dry weight basis. Du e to its rich organic nature and low ash content, it can serve as an ideal substrate for microbial processes for the production of value added product s. Attempts have been made to produce several products such as organic acid s, flavour and aroma compounds, and mushrooms from cassava bagasse. Solid-s tate fermentation has been mostly employed for bioconversion processes. Thi s paper reviews the developments in processes and products developed for th e value addition of cassava bagasse through biotechnological means. (C) 200 0 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.