Single cell protein (SCP) is a dried form of microorganisms like fungi, bacteria, and algae that is used as a protein source for foods and animal feeds. SCP was developed during wartime to address shortages in conventional protein sources. It has several advantages such as producing high quantities of protein from cheap waste materials through simple fermentation processes. Common challenges include removing nucleic acids from SCP to prevent health issues in humans and developing affordable production methods. SCP is now produced commercially from fungi, algae, yeasts and bacteria through large-scale fermentation and harvesting methods.

1. SINGLE CELL PROTEIN
PRESENTED BY :
TANISHKA (211206)
M.SC. BIOTECHNOLOGY
CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF HARYANA

2. SOURCES OF PROTEIN :
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1e/b4/d
8/1eb4d8c50999fc2cf19cc018ef2c3d4d.
jpg

3. LIMITATIONS:
• crop failure due to unfavorable climatic conditions.
• need a time lapse for the replenishment of stock .
• limited land available for farming .

4. SCP?
• Single cell protein (SCP)
• refers to the dried form of a group of microorganisms’ biomasses.
• Term coined by Professor Carroll L. Wilson.
• Also known as ‘Novel food’ & ‘Mini food’.
• having algal, bacterial or fungal origin.
• protein source for human food supplements and animal feeds.

5. WHY TO USE MICROORGANISMS FOR THE
PRODUCTION OF SCP :
• High quantity of protein produced.
• quality of protein generated is superior.
• easy to manipulate genetically - diverse amino acid compositions.
• Waste products can be employed as a substrate.
• The fermentation procedures, as well as the culture conditions, are both simple.
• The generation of microorganisms is not affected by environmental factors.

6. HISTORY :
Developed during war time
World War I - Saccharomyces
cerevisiae – Germany- from
molasses to replace up to 60% of
imported protein.
World War II -Candida utilis on
sulphite liquor from paper
manufacturing wastes.

7. REASONS :
• conventional foods were in short supply.
• recognized that protein malnutrition is usually far more severe.
• microorganisms would help meet this world protein deficiency.

8. AFTER EFFECTS :
• several plants were built in the US and Europe, mainly for C. utilis production.
• In 1950’s British Petroleum initiated production of SCP on commercial basis.

9. PRUTEEN – (1970s)
• was the 1st commercial SCP
• used as animal feed additive
• had 72 % protein content.

10. FERMENTATION
Methylophilous methylotrophus
Methanol (source of energy
)
Ammonia ( source of nitrogen )
PRUTEEN
(SCP)

11. IN RECENT TIMES :
• among the European communist countries the USSR had the largest capacity for
SCP production with at least 86 plants in operation using different substrates.
• To date, a profusion of reports about SCP production has appeared in the
scientific literature.

12. TWO MAIN APPROACHES HAVE BEEN FOLLOWED:
• utilization of conventional substrates.
• use of waste materials where SCP production brings about pollution control.

13. SCP PRODUCTION IN INDIA
• CSIR- National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) Lucknow U.P.
• Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) Mysore Karnataka.
• Vigyan Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology, Vishakhapatnam A.P.

14. ORGANISMS TO BE USED IN SCP PRODUCTION
SHOULD HAVE THE FOLLOWING PROPERTIES:
1. Absence of pathogenicity and toxicity.
2. Amount of protein should be high & contain amino acids required by man.
3. should be digestible, possess acceptable taste and aroma.
4. must grow rapidly in a cheap, easily available medium.
5. Adaptability to unusual environmental conditions

15. PROBLEMS RELATED WITH SCP :
• many developing countries, lack the expertise and/or the financial resources to develop
the highly capital intensive fermentation industries involved.
Short-coming bridged by the use of improvised fermenters and recovery methods which
do not require sophisticated equipment.

16. ANOTHER PROBLEM:
• Urate oxidase / Uricase
• Absent in higher primates including human.
oxidizes uric acid to the soluble
and excretable allantoin.

17. PROCESSING OF RNA BY BODY :
nucleases - pancreatic juice
+ intestinal juices
converted into nucleosides
nucleic acid eaten
URIC ACID
ALLANTONIN

18. WHY REMOVAL OF RNA ?
• As a result when foods rich in nucleic acid are consumed in large amounts, an
unusually high level of uric acid occurs in the blood plasma.
• Owing to the low solubility of uric acid, uricates may be deposited in various
tissues in the body including the kidneys and the joints leading to kidney stone
formation and gout.

19. WAYS FOR REMOVAL OF NUCLEIC ACID FROM SCP:
Growth and cell physiology method :
• higher the growth rate higher the RNA content.
• The growth rate is therefore reduced as a means of reducing nucleic acid.
• high growth is one of the requirements of reducing costs in SCP.
• hence the method may have only limited usefulness.

20. CONTINUED…
Extraction with chemicals :
• Dilute bases such as NaOH or KOH will hydrolyze RNA easily.
• Hot 10% sodium chloride may also be used to extract RNA.
• The cells usually have to be disrupted before using these methods. In some cases
the protein may then be extracted, purified and concentrated.

21. CONTINUED….
Use of pancreatic juice:
• RNAase from bovine pancreatic juice, which is heat-stable, has been used to
hydrolyze yeast RNA at 80°C at which the cells are more permeable.
Activation of endogenous RNA:
• The RNAase of the organism itself may be activated by heat-shock or by
chemicals.
• The RNA content of yeasts have been reduced in this way.

22. FERMENTATION :
Requirements :
 a pure culture of the chosen organism
 sterilization of the growth medium
 fermenter

23. STRUCTURE OF FERMENTER/ BIOREACTOR :
Image source : researchgate.net

24. PRINCIPLE USED :
most commonly used principle -chemostat:
a perfectly mixed suspension of biomass into which medium is fed at a constant
rate and the culture is harvested at the same rate so that the culture volume
remains constant.

25. TYPES OF FERMENTATION :
1. Batch Fermentation
2. Continuous Fermentation
3. Fed Batch Fermentation
4. Anaerobic Fermentation
5. Aerobic Fermentation
6. Surface Fermentation
7. Submerged Fermentation
8. State Fermentation

26. BATCH FERMENTATION :
limited amount of
sterilized nutrient
medium
inoculated with a
suitable
microorganism &run
for a definite period
or until the nutrients
are exhausted
culture broth is
harvested and the
product is
separated
Oxygen in the form of air, an antifoam agent and acid
or base, to control the pH,

27. CONTINUOUS FERMENTATION :
• As a result, volume of the medium and concentration of nutrients at optimum level are being
maintained
Closed fermenter
containing medium and
inoculum forming
cultured medium
fresh nutrient medium
is added
continuously/
intermittently
equivalent amount of
used medium with
microorganisms is
withdrawn
continuously/
intermittently

28. FED BATCH FERMENTATION:
• modification to the batch fermentation.
• substrate is added periodically in installments
• as the fermentation progresses, due to which the substratum is always at an optimal
concentration.
• This is essential as some secondary metabolites are subjected to catabolite repression by high
concentration of either glucose, or other carbohydrate or nitrogen compounds present in the
medium.
• For this reason, the critical elements of the nutrient medium are added in low amount in the
beginning of the fermentation and these substrates continue to be added in small doses during
the production phase.
• generally employed for the production of penicillin.
• Yoshida (1973) introduced this term for the first time for feeding the substrates to the medium
as the nutrients are exhausted, so as to maintain the nutrients at an optimum level.

29. ANAEROBIC FERMENTATION :
• fermentation carried out in the absence of oxygen.
• two types : obligate anaerobic microorganisms e.g., Clostridium sp. and facultative
anaerobic microorganisms e.g., lactic acid bacteria.
• Anaerobic conditions are created either by withdrawing the oxygen present in the
head space by an exhaust pump and pumping some inert gases like nitrogen, argon
etc. or by flushing it out, by the emergence of certain gases like carbon dioxide or
hydrogen
• Stationary medium and viscous medium also creates anaerobic conditions.
• Sometimes in order to create anaerobic condition, medium is inoculated at the
bottom of the fermenter soon after sterilization.

30. AEROBIC FERMENTATION :
• fermentation carried out in the presence of oxygen.
• In most of the commercial processes and majority of the products of human
utility are produced by this type of fermentation.
• Fermentation can be surface culture or static and submerged.

31. SURFACE FERMENTATIONS:
• substratum may be solid or liquid.
• The organism grows and draws the nutrients from the substratum.
• These types of fermentations are desirable where the products are based on sporulation.
• But it has several disadvantages such as it exposes the organism to unequal conditions,
both oxygen and nutrients.

32. SUBMERGED FERMENTATIONS
• nutrient substratum is liquid and the organism grows inside the substratum.
• The culture conditions are made uniform with the help of spargers and impeller
blades.
• Liquid state substratum is also called as broth.

33. SOLID SUBSTRATE/STATE FERMENTATION:
• growth of the microorganism on moist solid materials in the absence or near the
absence of free water.
• substrate itself acts as carbon source.
• employs a natural substrate as above or an inert substrate used as solid support.
• normally many step process involving.

34. HARVESTING :
• The biomass from yeast fermentation processes is harvested normally by continuous
centrifugation.
• Filamentous fungi are harvested by filtration.
• biomass is then treated for RNA reduction and dried in steam drums of spray driers.
 Drying is expensive, but results in stabilized product with shelf lives of years.
• Generally, under combined conditions of low water activity and presence of
intractable solid substrate, fungi show luxuriant growth.
• Hence, proper growth of fungi in Solid state fermentation gives much higher
concentration of the biomass and higher yield when compared to submerged
fermentation

35. SCP PRODUCING SOME SPECIES :
Aspergillus niger
Aspergillus fumigatus
Rhizopus cyclopean
Candida tropicalis
Candida utilis
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Pseudomonas fluorescens
Bacillus megaterium
Lactobacillus
Chlorella
pyrenoidosa
Chondrus crispus
Spirulina
FUNGI
BACTERIA ALGAE

36. ALGAE AS SCP :
• microscopic single-cell true algae or prokaryotic cyanobacteria, grown with the
use of carbon dioxide and light energy (autotrophic growth).
• rich in vitamins, especially water-soluble vitamins, and essential fatty acids.
• amino acid content is balanced except, Sulphur-containing amino acids
methionine and cystine.
• cell wall is not readily digestible, treatment to disrupt the cell wall structure will
increase digestibility and hence nutritional value.

37. USES :
• cultivation of daphnid that thrive on plankton as a food source in aquaculture.
• feed for chicken and swine
• Chlorella & Spirulina for the purpose of food.
• preparation of tablets
• protein and vitamin supplements, or to help people lose weight.
• sold as dry powder or as pellets.
• additive or supplement to cereal foodstuffs
• as a garnish to salads.
• mixtures with doughs for baked goods and pasta, such as bread, rolls, cookies and noodles.
• In Mexico, S. maxima has been used as a supplement for biscuits produced by a state company as part of a national breakfast
programme for schoolchildren.

38. DISADVANTAGES :
• bitter flavor
• presence of dark green pigments which are difficult to mask.
• In addition to chlorophylls, other pigments such as carotenes, xanthines and
phycocyanin are present in varying amounts.
 Flavor and color may be improved if algal biomass is treated during downstream
processing to remove undesirable components.

39. FUNGI AS SCP :
• fungal protein product, called Quorn,
• meat substitute manufactured by a single strain of a filamentous saprotrophic
ascomycete, Fusarium venenatum.
• produced from a multi-cellular, filamentous fungus, mycoprotein is the preferred
name.
• consumption could raise uric acid levels in the blood and lead to gout and other
illnesses.
• addressed by heating the mycelium at 68 °C for 20 min, which allows endogenous
enzymes to destroy much of the RNA without reducing its protein content.
• then dried and bound with egg white, creates the meaty texture.

40. APPLICATIONS :
• Obesity, stress, weight, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels can all be controlled
with this therapeutic and pharmaceutical use.
• Application for hair and skin care products.
• Malnourished people can benefit from a protein supplement.
• A convenient feeding source for poultry, fisheries, and animal farms.

41. REFERENCES :
• FOOD & INDUSTRIAL MICROBIOLOGY by R.K. MALIK, SUJA SENAN & SHILPA VIJ
• URICASE ENZYME PROTEIN RECOMBINANT BY PROSEC.
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0122270703014501
• Single cell protein yeasts & bacteria by Mariano García Garibay, Eduardo Bárzana, in Encyclopedia of
Food Microbiology, 1999
• M. García-Garibay, E. Bárzana, in Encyclopedia of Food Microbiology (Second Edition), 2014
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123820341000128
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128012246000072
• https://www.biotechnologynotes.com/industrial-biotechnology/fermentation-process/fermentation-
types-8-types-of-fermentations-industrial-biotechnology/13695

42. THANK YOU