Eco-Friendly Microbial Growth Media From Sugarcane Bagasse And Fruit Peels: Optimizing Natural Substrates For Sustainable Cultivation

Abstract

Fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) poses a significant challenge in waste management due to its rapid biodegradability and the substantial quantities generated daily, often leading to environmental issues. Fruit processing residues contain high levels of phenolic compounds and have a wide range of industrial applications in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. This study aims to formulate media for growth of various microbes using fruits peel such as banana peels, papaya peels and orange peels with sugarcane bagasse. Formulating media for growth of different microbes such as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, E. coli, Actinomycetes. This study helps to formulate a good potential media from these agricultural byproducts as alternative substrates for cultivating various microbes, focused on optimizing the nutrient content of agricultural waste to support microbial growth and activity. This study also explores that with adequate amount of agar, bagasse and fruit peels can successfully promote the growth of various microbial species, potentially decreasing the need for synthetic and expensive media components. It proves to be an eco-friendly approach for resource utilization and waste management as the mixture of sugarcane bagasse and fruit peels (citrus, banana, papaya, and sugarcane bagasse) shows best results for growing microbes rather than other combination of peels (bagasse and banana peel, bagasse and papaya peels, bagasse and orange peel) and the growth of microbes was analysed by spectrophotometer at 600nm wavelength at the different intervals  of time, were Staphylococcus aureus showed maximum growth of 1.081(cfu/mL10⁸-10⁹), Actinomycetes showed1.326 (cfu/mL10⁸-10⁹) growth,  E.coli 1.168(cfu/mL10⁸-10⁹). This method will not only support sustainable bioprocesses but will also provide a valuable use for agricultural waste.