SOLID STATE FERMENTATION: PROCESSES, CHALLENGES, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

The rise of agro-industrial residues as waste has become a global environment issue. A sustainable approach to valorize these residues and generate bioactive compounds, contributing to circular economy is solid-state fermentation (SSF) process [1,2]. SSF incudes limited utilization of water or lack of free water for growth of microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria on the agro-waste as substrate, producing various compounds such as enzymes, proteins and peptides, biosurfactants, and other secondary metabolites [3]. Moreover, lower water content guarantees less contamination and higher yield of the products. SSF emulates the natural condition of growth, specifically in fungi that need limited moisture and attachment surface for growth [4,5].