Mrs Faryal Almani, a faculty member of the Institute of Pharmacy University of Sindh, has said that the grim race between the population growth and the efforts to maintain increase in quantity and quality of the world's per capita food supply could be described as the most critical struggle of the present era.
She was presenting her final thesis on "Biosynthesis of amino acid by fungi using agricultural waste as a substrate" at the seminar held at the Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry University of Sindh here on Tuesday.
She said: "It is necessary to develop an alternative protein-rich source such as microbial production of essential amino acids and single cell protein to supplement or fortify low-grade available protein diets."
She said that our nation has entered an era where the public is expressing increased concern about protecting human health and preserving the quality of our environment.
HOT TOPIC: She said: "The recycling of agro waste to yield valuable products as well as to decrease the environmental pollution is a hot topic of the present world and added that the rapid advancement in biotechnology and strategic shift of major chemical companies in the area of life sciences are some of the driving forces to develop interest in producing useful compounds from renewable resources by biological processes.
She further said, amino acids are now produced by fermentation processes, in which producing organism synthesise L-amino acids directly from simple raw material and accumulate these compounds in the fermentation broth, from which they are isolated and purified.
She said that amino acid produced by fermentation is less expensive and made possible for broad application, not only in medicine or as food and feed additives but also in chemical industry.
Faryal Almani said that from now onward we will continuously strive to create new values and contribute to food health and for a better quality of life while promoting harmony and symbiosis with nature and environment.
She said that the biotechnology involves the potential use of all living forms in the development of all disciplines and will continue to be used extensively for the foreseeable future.
Faryal Almani said that in her study on amino acid production processes efforts were direct toward the use of agricultural (products and)waste material such as sugarcane bagasse and molasses.
In her conclusion chapter of thesis the research scholar said that the Optimum pH and temperature for amino acid production by Aspergillus Niger were found to be 6 and 30oC respectively, the addition of 0.2 percent corn steep liquor in place of ammonium in the medium enhances the production of amino acids and the rate of amino acid production varies from species to species of micro organism, growth condition, medium composition, type of carbon and nitrogen source.
The research scholar suggested that Pakistan, particularly the Sindh province, is rich in agricultural products and therefore work should be carried out to utilise more and more agricultural and industrial wastes as a carbon and energy source for the selection of appropriate substrate for the growth of micro organism and higher yield of amino acids.
She further suggested that large number of fungi, yeast and bacteria are capable of producing amino acids and therefore, other micro organisms must be tested for the suitability on other agro wastes.
Vice-Chancellor University of Sindh Mazharul Haq Siddiqui, who presided over the occasion, appreciated the efforts of the scholar for her research work as well as excellent presentation.
He expressed hope that other scholars will work more on the field indicated by the research scholar.
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