Changes in Proximate and Antinutrient Contents of Irish Potato Peels Fermented with Penicillium chrysogenum and Bacillus subtilis

The study was carried out to investigate the effect of fermentation on Irish potato peels using pure strains of Penicillium chrysogenum and Bacillus subtilis. This was done at Department of Microbiology and Chemistry Department, Federal University of Technology Akure, Ondo State between March 2019 and October 2019. The temperature, pH, and total titratable acidity (TTA) of the fermenting substrates were determined at 24hours interval during fermentation. The proximate composition, anti-nutrient composition, and amylase activity were determined after fermentation using standard methods. There was a decrease in pH with an increase in total titratable acidity in all the samples. The result of the proximate analysis revealed that there was an increase in protein content in the fermented sample of Irish potato peels with P. chrysogenum having the highest protein content (20.96±0.14%) followed by the sample fermented with B. subtilis (18.23±0.17%) compared to the unfermented samples (14.11±0.11%) respectively. There was an increase in crude fibre and ash contents and a decrease in carbohydrate, fat and energy contents of the fermented samples. The effect of fermentation on the anti-nutritional content showed that there was decrease in the content of phytates, phytic acid, oxalate, tannin, phenols, and glycosides. Generally, maximum amylase activity was achieved at 48 hours for sample fermented with B. subtilis (132.86 mg/ml) and at 72 hours for sample fermented with P. chrysogenum (148.57 mg/ml). The fermented peels could therefore be of use in the production of amylase which has a wide range of applications in industry.