Bioresource Technology 98 (2007) 2000–2009 0960-8524/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2006.08.002 Oil cakes and their biotechnological applications – A review Sumitra Ramachandran a,b , Sudheer Kumar Singh b , Christian Larroche a , Carlos Ricardo Soccol c , Ashok Pandey b,¤ a Laboratoire de Génie Chimique et Biochimique (LGCB), CUST – Université Blaise Pascal, 24, avenue des Landais, B.P. 206, F-63174 Aubière Cedex, France b Biotechnology Division, Regional Research Laboratory, CSIR, Trivandrum 695 019, India c Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Parana, CEP 81531-970 Curitiba-PR, Brazil Received 15 April 2006; received in revised form 30 July 2006; accepted 4 August 2006 Available online 4 October 2006 Abstract Oil cakes have been in use for feed applications to poultry, Wsh and swine industry. Being rich in protein, some of these have also been considered ideal for food supplementation. However, with increasing emphasis on cost reduction of industrial processes and value addi- tion to agro-industrial residues, oil cakes could be ideal source of proteinaceous nutrients and as support matrix for various biotechnolog- ical processes. Several oil cakes, in particular edible oil cakes oVer potential beneWts when utilized as substrate for bioprocesses. These have been utilized for fermentative production of enzymes, antibiotics, mushrooms, etc. Biotechnological applications of oil cakes also include their usages for vitamins and antioxidants production. This review discusses various applications of oil cakes in fermentation and biotechnological processes, their value addition by implementation in feed and energy source (for the production of biogas, bio-oil) as well.  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Oil cakes; Chemical composition; Biotechnological applications; Feed source; Biogas production; Biocontrol agent 1. Introduction There has been an increased exploitation of organic resi- dues from various sectors of agriculture and industries over the past few decades. Crop residues such as bran, husk, bagasse, and fruit seeds are utilised as a potential raw mate- rial in bioprocesses as they provide an excellent substratum for the growth of microorganism supplying the essential nutrients to them (Pandey and Soccol, 1998, 2000; Pandey, 1994; Pandey et al., 2000a,b,c,d, 1999a; Pandey, 1992). Their application in bioprocesses also oVers advantages in bio- remediation and biological detoxiWcation of hazardous compounds. Their application in the Weld of fermentation technology has resulted in the production of bulk-chemi- cals and value-added products such as amino acid, enzymes, mushrooms, organic acids, single-cell protein (SCP), biologically active secondary metabolites, etc. (Pan- dey, 2003; Pandey et al., 1999a,b; Soccol et al., 2005; Nampoothiri et al., 2002; Vandenberghe et al., 2000). This review focuses on the various process related to the value- addition of oil cakes (residue obtained after oil extraction) by their utilisation in bioprocesses for the production of industrial bio-products. Biotechnological applications of sunXower oil cake (SuOC), sesame oil cake (SOC), soy bean cake (SBC), coconut oil cake (COC), mustard oil cake (MOC), palm kernel cake (PKC), groundnut oil cake (GOC), cottonseed cake (CSC), canola oil cake (CaOC), olive oil cake (OOC), rapeseed cake (RSC) is emphasised in detail. Oil cakes/oil meals are by-products obtained after oil extraction from the seeds. Oil cakes are of two types, edible * Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 471 2515 279/2495949; fax: +91 471 2491 712. E-mail addresses: pandey@csrrltrd.ren.nic.in, ashokpandey56@ yahoo.co.in (A. Pandey).