Main description:

In early 1973, I returned to Israel from a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University, and was accepted as a lecturer in the Department of Applied Microbiology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Shortly after my return, Professor Richard Mateles, who at that time was head of the Department, suggested that I purchase a good and comprehensive book on single cell protein (SCP) in order to expand my general knowledge in the subject I had started then to work on; that was microbial utilization of one-carbon (C ) compounds. l Naturally, I took his advice (after all, he was the Boss) and bought the book, which was the only general book published on this subject at that time, and was based on papers presented at the First International Conference on Single Cell Protein, held at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), on October 1967 (Mateles and Tannenbaum, editors) [1]. Through this book I became acquainted with the world's hunger problem that existed in the past, and ways in which it was to be solved by SCP products prepared from CO , fossil-based raw 2 materials, and from wastes.

Contents:

1 Organisms and Substrates.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.1.1 Microorganisms Used in SCP Production.- 1.1.2 Carbon Sources for SCP Production.- 1.2 Carbon Sources and Microorganisms Used in SCP Production..- 1.2.1 Autotrophic Growth on CO2.- 1.2.1.1 SCP from Bacterial Photosynthetic Reactions.- 1.2.1.2 Photosynthetic Algal SCP.- 1.2.1.3 Chemolithotrophic Bacteria.- 1.2.2 Fossil Mass.- 1.2.2.1 Crude Oil, Gas-Oil, Hydrocarbons.- 1.2.2.2 One Carbon (C1)-compounds.- 1.2.2.3 Ethanol.- 1.2.3 Renewable Resources as Carbon Substrates for SCP Production.- 1.2.3.1 Saccharide Substrates.- 1.2.3.2 Polysaccharide.- 1.3 Other Nutritional Requirements for Biomass Production.- 1.3.1 Energy Sources.- 1.3.2 Sources of Nitrogen.- 1.3.3 Sources of the Minor Elements.- 1.3.4 Vitamins.- 2 Fermentation Processes for Microbial SCP Production.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Physiological and Engineering Process Aspects.- 2.2.1 Batch and Continuous Cultures in SCP Production.- 2.2.1.1 Kinetics of Microbial Growth in a Batch Culture.- 2.2.1.2 Aspects in Continuous Culture Operation of Relevance to SCP Production.- 2.2.1.3 Advantages of Continuous Culture over Batch Fermentation.- 2.2.1.4 The Applications of Continuous Culture in Research Relevant to SCP Production.- 2.2.2 Improvement of Media for Biomass Production.- 2.2.3 Growth Yields of Microorganisms.- 2.2.3.1 Theoretical Biomass Yields for Different Carbon Substrates.- 2.2.3.2 Experimental Cellular Yields.- 2.2.3.3 Maintenance Energy Requirements and "True Growth Yield" Values.- 2.2.3.4 Productivity.- 2.2.3.5 Relationship Among Cell Yield, Oxygen Demand, and Heat Load.- 2.2.4 Physiological Problems Associated with Scale-up.- 2.2.4.1 The Effect of Oxygen.- 2.2.4.2 The Effect of Carbon Dioxide.- 2.2.4.3 Variations in the Concentration of Limiting Nutrients.- 2.2.5 Sterilization.- 2.2.6 "Structured" Mixed Cultures.- 2.2.6.1 Complex and Multiple Carbon Sources.- 2.2.6.2 Defined and Simple Carbon Sources.- 2.2.7 Recycling.- 2.2.8 Recovery of the SCP Product.- 2.2.9 Description of Selected Pilot Plants and Industrial Processes for SCP Manufacture.- 2.2.9.1 ICI's "Pruteen" Process (Methanol-Bacteria).- 2.2.9.2 The "Pekilo" Process (SSL-mold).- 2.2.9.3 High-Rate Algal Ponds (HRAP).- 2.2.9.4 "Mycoprotein" for Human Food.- 2.2.9.5 Yeast SCP from n-Paraffins.- 2.2.9.6 The "Waterloo" Process-Production of SCP from Waste Biomass.- 2.2.10 Improvement of the Process for SCP Production.- 2.2.10.1 Type of Fermentor.- 2.2.10.2 Computer-Controlled SCP Fermentation Processes.- 2.2.10.3 Genetic Manipulation Techniques.- 2.2.10.4 Thermophilic Microorganisms.- 2.3 Economic Considerations in SCP Production.- 3 The SCP Product.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Composition of the SCP Product.- 3.2.1 Protein.- 3.2.2 RNA and DNA.- 3.2.3 Lipids.- 3.2.4 Other Constituents of the SCP Product.- 3.3 Changes in the Composition of the SCP Product.- 3.3.1 Changes in Macromolecular Composition.- 3.3.1.1 Protein and Nucleic Acids.- 3.3.1.2 Lipids.- 3.3.1.3 Carbohydrates.- 3.3.2 Environmental and Genetic Control of Protein Composition.- 3.3.2.1 Environmental Conditions.- 3.3.2.2 Genetic Control of Protein Composition.- 3.4 Toxicological Status and Nutritional Value of SCP Products..- 4 Concluding Remarks and Epilogue.- 5 References.- 6 Subject Index.