Nur Athirah Binti Mohamad Yamin,		 						 	,	, <br/><br/>
Effect of temperature and moisture content on nutrient content of fermented oil palm frond for animal feed / 
Nur Athirah Binti Mohamad Yamin 
 - xv, 48 pages :  illustrations ; 
<br/><br/> Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology 
<br/><br/>Final Year Report (Bachelor of Chemical Engineering ) -- Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah - 2025 
<br/><br/>Include bibliographical reference 
<br/><br/> Oil palm fronds (OPF), a waste product of palm oil plantations in Malaysia, have beneficial applications as animal feed. Livestock are commonly fed with oil palm fronds as a source of forage. OPF is rich in fiber, which is essential for the proper functioning of the digestive system in ruminants. However, OPF has low protein content which necessitates enhancement through solid-state fermentation (SSF) to improve the nutritional value. In SSF, microbial growth is susceptible to the surrounding temperature, and the moisture content of the substrate which is crucial for maintaining its physical and biological properties. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of temperature and moisture content on the enhancement of nutrient content of fermented oil palm fronds via SSF. Ragi containing Rhizopus oligosporus was used as an inoculum for the SSF process. During the SSF of three days, temperature (25°C, 30°C, 35°C, and 40°C) and moisture content (65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85% and 90%) were varied and run according to one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT). Then, the fermented OPF was analyzed for protein content, lactic acid concentration, fiber content, phenolic compounds and reducing sugar. The validation was carried out in triplicate by using the optimum temperature and moisture content obtained using OFAT. After fermentation, protein increased by 1.1-fold, lactic acid increased by 0.6-fold, phenolic increased by 3.1-fold, and reducing sugar increased by 3.6-fold. The objective of this study which is the enhancement of nutrient content of fermented oil palm fronds was achieved. In conclusion, OPF nutritional enrichment by SSF is significantly impacted by microbial temperature and moisture content. As recommendation, since pH directly impacts the development and viability of the microorganisms involved in SSF, its effect should be taken into consideration as well. 
<br/><br/><label>ISBN: </label>THE0010695 (Local) 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Corporate Names: </label><br/>Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology--Dissertations
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Universities and colleges--Dissertations<br/>Theses--Dissertations