Vinegar Production from Waste Cassava Starch: A Sustainable Approach to Value Addition and Waste Utilization

Abstract

This study investigated the production of vinegar from waste cassava starch as a sustainable approach to agricultural waste utilization and value addition. Fresh cassava tubers obtained from Mile 1 Market, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, were processed to extract starch, which was hydrolyzed with amylase enzymes to produce fermentable sugars. Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used for alcoholic fermentation, while Acetobacter aceti converted the resulting ethanol to acetic acid. Molecular characterization confirmed 100% similarity of both organisms with known strains in the NCBI database. The physicochemical analysis of the produced vinegar showed a density of 842.67 kg/m³, alcohol content of 1.2 ± 0.1%, acetic acid concentration of 3.49%, pH of 3.85 ± 0.09, and total acidity of 10.61 ± 0.07. Other parameters included sugar concentration of 2.12 ± 0.06%, turbidity of 2.47 ± 0.02 NTU, total solids of 1.58 ± 0.03%, total phenol of 43.71 mg/L, and vitamin C content of 6.76 mg/L. Sensory evaluation indicated good acceptability, with an overall score of 7.5. Sourness recorded the highest score (7.7), while mouthfeel had the lowest (6.7). The findings demonstrate that waste cassava starch can serve as a suitable substrate for vinegar production, providing a practical waste-to-wealth strategy with potential environmental and economic benefits.