Processing of fish offal waste through fermentation utilizing whey as inoculum

Background Lactic acid fermentation is a strong tool toconvert biodegradable wastes into food ingredients foranimal husbandry. Experiments were made to evaluate iflactic acid bacteria of whey, a by-product of dairy industry,could be exploited to ferment fish offal waste (FOW) andto compare the effectiveness of whey as fermentationinoculum with that of a pure culture of Lactobacillusacidophilus.Results Although fermentation of FOW by whey required5 days to complete in contrast to 3 days required for fermentationby L. acidophilus, removal of hazardousmicroorganisms like Staphylococcus, Clostridium andcoliform bacteria was better in the whey-fermented fishoffal (WFFO) than that of L. acidophilus-fermented fishoffal (LAFFO). Protein and lipid contents of the wasteswere almost completely recovered in both the fermentedproducts, with WFFO showing a higher amount of freeamino acid than the LAFFO. Both the fermented productswere stable against the growth of mould and yeast.Conclusion It is concluded that whey is a viable andeasily available inoculum to ferment FOW and convert it toa microbiologically safe and nutrient-rich end productsuitable for use as feed supplement in animal feedformulation.