Cassava leaves are a crucial source of alternative protein resources for both humans and livestock in developing societies in African and Asian countries that do not have easy access to available protein sources. Hence, cassava has the capacity to promote the economic development of these countries and provide food security. However, it has some disadvantages due to the anti-nutrient compounds present in its tissues, which limits the nutritional value of cassava leaves. Thus, proper processing of cassava leaves is essential in order to reduce the anti-nutrients to a safer limit before utilization. This study focuses on reducing the tannin content of cassava leaves during solid-state fermentation using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In addition, the Box-Behnken design of the Response Surface Methodology was applied to optimize various process parameters, such as carbon concentration, nitrogen concentration, moisture content, and incubation time for maximum reduction of tannin content in cassava leaves. A quadratic model was developed for the reduction of tannin content, which resulted in a perfect fit of the experimental data (p < 0.01). The optimal conditions were found at 1.4% (w/w) of carbon concentration, 0.55% (w/w) of nitrogen concentration, 57% (v/w) moisture content, and an incubation time of 96 h. The minimum tannin content obtained under these conditions was 0.125%, which indicated a reduction of 89.32 % in tannin content. Conversely, the protein content was increased with a further increase in fermentation time from 24 to 96 h (from 10.08 to 14.11-16.07 %). Furthermore, the ability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce tannase under solid-state fermentation of cassava leaves was also studied. The maximum yield was obtained with an enzyme activity of 0.53 U/gds after 72 h of incubation.
Keywords: Biochemical engineering; Biochemistry; Bioengineering; Cassava leaves; Chemical engineering; Degradation; Industrial chemistry; Materials characterization; Optimization; Response surface methodology; Solid state fermentation; Tannase; Tannin content; Transport process.