Aspergillus niger

Technical Data

Type of microorganism	Fungus
Microorganism name	Aspergillus niger
Temperature range	30-32°C (Kamal et al., 2019)
pH range	pH 5 (Ardestani & Alishahi, 2015) pH 6-6.5 (Kamal et al., 2019)
Carbon and nitrogen source	Glucose, (NH4)2SO4 (Aregbesola & Omafuvbe, 2016)
Growth rate (µ)	0.134/hour: is highest when initial glucose levels are low (30g/L) (Favela-Torres et al., 1998)
Companies (product)	Not on the market
Wild-type or GMO	Wild-type
Feedstock case studies (suitable substrates)	Waste liqour & stick water (Amara & El-Baky, 2023) Waste from banana, cucumber, orange, pineapple, watermelon & rice bran (Bajić et al., 2022) Wheat bran, corn cob, potato starch processing waste (Rajput et al., 2024)
% SCP (w/w percentage of protein in dried biomass)	14.5% - 52.5% depending on substrate (Rajput et al., 2024) 61.23% (Kamal et al., 2019)
cell biomass dry weight (CDW) = biomass yield? (g/L or g/g?) (weight of biomass/total weight or volume)	2.469% (w/v) dry biomass (Kamal et al., 2019) on lab scale in flask on banana peel substrate *
Protein content in final product	No product on the market
Protein titer (g/L or g/g?) grams of protein / total weight or volume	1.512% (w/v) (own calculation based on Kamal et al. (2019)) on lab scale in flask on banana peel substrate *
Productivity (g/Lh)	NA
Protein yield on C-source (% w/w)	NA
Scale	Lab scale in flasks (Kamal et al., 2019) *
Downstream purification processing complexity	Not done on industrial scale yet, but on lab scale centrifugation and vacuum filtration (Kamal et al., 2019)
Nucleic acid content	Not specifially stated, but likely around 10% as most fungi
Techno-functional and/or nutritional properties (e.g. meat-like texture, amino acid profile, digestibility)	Composition not known. Digestibility not tested
Target application (Food, feed, other)	Primarily explored for use in feed sector. Not in use yet because no regulation.
Advantages	Can be grown on a wide variety of substrates (Bajić et al., 2022; Amara & El-Baky, 2023; Rajput et al., 2024)
Challenges (Key limitations, risk factors)	Not allowed as biomass fermentation product. Can produce certain toxins (Blumenthal, 2004)
Regulatory status in Europe	Not allowed as biomass fermentation product. Allowed for precision fermentation of some products in food and feed.
Regulatory status in other parts of the world	Not allowed as biomass fermentation product in the US, Canada or Singapore. Allowed for precision fermentation of some products in food and feed.
Extra/remark
Publications/references	Aregbesola, O. A., & Omafuvbe, B. O. (2016). Production of Aspergillus niger biomass from aqueous extract of brewer’s spent grain. Ife Journal of Science, Vol. 16(No. 3). Ardestani, F., & Alishahi, F. (2015). Optimization of Single Cell Protein Production by Aspergillus niger Using Taguchi Approach. Journal of Food Biosciences and Technology. Kamal, M. M., Ali, M. R., Shishir, M. R. I., Saifullah, M., Haque, M. R., & Mondal, S. C. (2019). Optimization of process parameters for improved production of biomass protein from Aspergillus niger using banana peel as a substrate. Food Science and Biotechnology, 28(6), 1693–1702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-019-00636-2 Favela-Torres, E., Cordova-López, J., García-Rivero, M., & Gutiérrez-Rojas, M. (1998). Kinetics of growth of Aspergillus niger during submerged, agar surface and solid state fermentations. Process Biochemistry, 33(2), 103–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0032-9592(97)00032-0 Blumenthal, C. Z. (2004). Production of toxic metabolites in Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus oryzae, and Trichoderma reesei: justification of mycotoxin testing in food grade enzyme preparations derived from the three fungi. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 39(2), 214–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yrtph.2003.09.002 Bajić, B., Vučurović, D., Vasić, Đ., Jevtić-Mučibabić, R., & Dodić, S. (2022). Biotechnological Production of Sustainable Microbial Proteins from Agro-Industrial Residues and By-Products. Foods, 12(1), 107. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12010107 Amara, A. A., & El-Baky, N. A. (2023). Fungi as a Source of Edible Proteins and Animal Feed. Journal of Fungi, 9(1), 73. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9010073 Rajput, S. D., Pandey, N., & Sahu, K. (2024). A comprehensive report on valorization of waste to single cell protein: strategies, challenges, and future prospects. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 31(18), 26378–26414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33004-7