Solid-state fermentation of Pleurotus ostreatus to improve the nutritional profile of mechanically-fractionated canola meal

Canola meal is an abundant and economic source of energy and nutrients for production animals, but it contains more antinutrients, less protein, and has a lower nutrient digestibility compared to soybean meal. In this study, mechanical fractionation and solid-state fungal fermentation were conducted to improve nutrient profile and reduce antinutrient content of canola meal. Mechanical processing, including milling, sieving, and air classifi-cation, was used to fractionate canola meal and redistribute its components in different fractions. Then these fractions were inoculated for fungal fermentation. The results showed that 12-day solid-state fermentation with Pleurotus ostreatus increased the protein content in all fractions by 11-18 %, decreased sinapine, glucosinolates, and phytate up to 99.8 %, 98.8 % and 75.8 %, respectively, and increased the in vitro digestibility of selective fractions. Overall, Pleurotus ostreatus-based solid-state fermentation has the potential to be an effective treatment to improve the nutritional profile of canola meal.

Automated summary

This study investigated the use of mechanical fractionation and fungal fermentation to improve the nutrient profile and reduce antinutrient content of canola meal. The results showed that Pleurotus ostreatus-based solid-state fermentation increased the protein content and decreased the levels of antinutrients in canola meal. This method has the potential to enhance the nutritional quality of canola meal.