Review on tropical root and tuber crops. I. Storage methods and quality changes.

The root tuber crops, including cassava, sweet potato, yams, and aroids, enjoy considerable importance as a vegetable, staple food, or raw material for small-scale industries at a global level, particularly in the less developed tropical countries. The perishability and postharvest loses of root and tuber crops are the major constraints in the utilization of these crops. Several simple, low-cost traditional methods are being followed by farmers in different parts of the world to store different root and tuber crops in the fresh state.

Cassava starch effluent treatment with concomitant SCP production.

Yeasts and yeast-like organisms were chosen for the aerobic treatment of cassava starch factory effluent. A mixed culture of Candida utills and Endomycopsis fibuliger efficiently and rapidly utilized both starch and free sugars. After 28 h fermentation the protein content of the biomass was 22% (w/w), which remained unchanged during the remainder of the fermentation (60 h).

Anaerobic digestion of cassava starch factory effluent.

Biomethanation of cassava starch factory effluent in a batch digester produced 130 l biogas/kg dry matter with an average melthane content of 59%. About 63% COD was removed during 60 days. In semicontinuous digesters, gas production was 3251/kg dry matter with a retention time of 33,3 days giving a COD reduction of 50%.

Factors Affecting Yield and Safety of Protein Production from Cassava by Cephalosporium eichhorniae.

The properties of Cephalosporium eichhorniae 152 (ATCC 38255) affecting protein production from cassava carbohydrate, for use as an animal feed, were studied. This strain is a true thermophile, showing optimum growth at 45 degrees to 47 degrees C, maximum protein yield at 45 degrees C, and no growth at 25 degrees C. It has an optimum pH of about 3.