You can used non-veg waste if:

- Your microorganism is able to produce non-veg waste degrading

enzyme(s);

- You treat previously the waste to ensure the presence of sugars/nutrients in the medium.

- You add additional growth medium to the non-veg material. In this case, the non-veg naterial can serve a support for the microbial mass but not as a source of nutrients/sugars.

The rest of your work will be to optimize the parameters of the respective processes including the SSF.

Good luck N.T.!

Dear N. T.

That is intriguing. You will use protein rich (and presumably lipid rich) substrates for conversion into a low-cost acid? It is probably feasible, but the fungus may produce a lot of biomass (because of the rich medium) and less citric acid than it would if a sugar was the main substrate. Do you other options for residue use, or other residues to throw in for an economical evaluation?

As for the fermentation bed, I agree with Professor Vassilev. The substrates you want to use are low in fiber (except for feathers) and the fermentation bed might easily collapse under its own weight. Therefore, you need a support (e.g. an agroindustrial residue or an inert support).

Best regards,

Júlio

It was possible to try to use a fermenter for solid phase fermentation, that would not use substrates. Since the medium is rich in proteins, it is most likely that you will have to come up with a second phase. In the first phase, biomass grows, and in the second phase the synthesis of citric acid, but this requires manipulation with the substrate.