Nduka Okafor. 1998. An Integrated Bio-system for the 
Disposal of Cassava Wastes 
In: Integrated Bio-Systems in Zero Emissions Applications.
Proceedings of the Internet Conference on Integrated Biosystems.
Eds: Eng-Leong Foo & Tarcisio Della Senta. 1998 http://www.ias.unu.edu/proceedings/icibs/okafor 
 
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About the Author 
Prof. Nduka Okafor  
Foundation for African Development through  
         International Biotechnology (FADIB),  
P O Box 1457, Enugu, Nigeria.  
107705.3607@compuserve.com  

Prof. Nduka Okafor is the President and founder of the Foundation for African Development through International Biotechnology (Enugu, Nigeria).  He is also the professor of Industrial microbiology at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University at Awka. Prof. Okafor completed his B.Sc. Degree in agriculture from the University of London, England,  and the Ph D in Microbiology from the University of Cambridge, England; he has about 110  publications in food and industrial microbiology in international journals,  text-books and patents, including two texts on Industrial Microbiology (1987) and Aquatic and Waste Microbiology (1985). Between 1986 and 1990, he was a member of the Executive Board of the International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS) (1986 - 90), and currently on the Board of the International Organization for Biotechnology and Bioengineering (IOBB). 
Abstract
Garri is a popular food widely eaten in West Africa, including Nigeria. It is produced from the enlarged root of the cassava plant, Manihot esculenta. The root is rid of outer peel, which could constitute up to 10 % by weight of the root, to expose the white inner fleshy portion which is then crushed to produce a mash. The mash is placed in cloth bags and allowed to ferment for 18 - 24 hrs. Heavy objects are also placed on the bags to squeeze fluid out of the cassava mash. At the end of the fermentation period the mash is heated to produce garri.   

Two important wastes are generated during the processing of cassava for garri production, namely, the cassava peels and the liquid squeezed out of the mash.   

This paper deals with a proposed integrated system for the disposal of the cassava peels and the liquid expressed of the fermenting mash.   

It is proposed to crush the peels and to allow this to ferment with the liquid squeezed out from the mash. The peels contain toxic cyanogenic glucosides, and the liquid contains a heavy load of microorganisms capable of hydrolyzing the glucosides. The resulting product can be dried and used as animal feed, whose wastes can be used as fertilizers for the cassava plant, thus providing an integrated system.