@article{Egoamaka_Eze_Edwards_Ezedom_Tonukari_2022, title={Enhancement of the nutritional value of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) for use as animal feeds and for xylanase production}, volume={19}, url={https://delsunjse.com/index.php/njse/article/view/7}, abstractNote={<p>Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) is one of the most important tropical forage crops currently under study. The present study evaluates the enhancement of nutritional value of elephant grass for use as animal feeds and xylanase production. Biochemical analysis were carried out on untreated elephant grass, autoclaved elephant grass, solid state fermented elephant grass and solid state fermented autoclaved elephant grass. The results showed that the solid state fermented elephant grass <br>produced the highest increase in soluble proteins (13.6±0.8 and 20.4±0.9 mg g-1), glucose levels (32.4 ±1.6 and 54.6±3.3 mg g-1), and reducing sugar concentrations (89.2±1.7 and 114.4±7.9 mg g-1) compared to the other groups of the study. Furthermore, the results obtained for total phenol content and total flavonoid were significantly higher in solid state fermented elephant grass and autoclaved solid state fermented elephant. Similarly, the free radical scavenging capacity of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl were potentially active in solid state fermented elephant grass. For xylanase production, solid state fermented elephant grass showed the highest enzymatic activity. These results indicated that solid state fermentation enhanced the nutritional value of elephant grass, which can also be used as substrate for the production of xylanase.</p>}, number={2}, journal={NIGERIAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT}, author={Egoamaka , O. E and Eze, Emmanuel and Edwards, R. A. and Ezedom, T and Tonukari, Nyerhovwo J.}, year={2022}, month={Jun.} }