This study was undertaken to determine the potential of nine endophytic fungi associated with bamboo namely: Cladosporium cladosporioides, Aspergillus ochraceus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium citrinum, Monascus ruber, Fusarium semitectum, Fusarium sp. 1 and Fusarium sp. 2 as sources of single cell protein. In addition, proximate composition of the fungal enriched corn cob which includes moisture, ash, crude fat and crude fiber were also determined. Lastly, cytotoxicity of the treated corn cob was also evaluated to determine their feasibility as safe substitute to animal feeds.

R esults of the study revealed that inoculation of endophytic fungi could enhance the proximate composition of corn cob. Cladosporium cladosporioides – t reated corn cob obtained the highest crude protein content (CPC) of 3.23%, while, Aspergillus niger – treated corn cob registered the least CPC of 2.51%. For the percentage increase CPC, Cladosporium Cladosporioides – treated corn cob registered the highest percentage increase of 13.64%. For the moisture content, F usarium sp.2 – treated corn cob obtained the highest moisture content with 2.45%, while the uninoculated corn cob had the lowest moisture of 1.48%. For the ash content, Penicillium citrinum – treated corn cob obtained the highest % ash with 2.94% while A. ochraceus – treated corn cob had the least % ash of 2.25. For the crude fat, Fusarium sp. 1 – treated corn cob obtained the highest crude fat of 0.76% while the Aspergillus ochraceus, Cladosporium cladosporioides and Penicillium citrinum – treated corn cob obtained the least crude fat of 0%. For the crude fiber, Fusarium sp. 1 – treated corn cob recorded the highest crude fiber with 33.09% while the uninoculated corn cob with 30.93% had the least crude fiber content. For the cytotoxicity test, 3.33% mortality rate was recorded after 6 hours of incubation as observed in Aspergillus niger , Fusarium semitectum and Fusarium sp. 1 – treated corn cob. At 12 hours of incubation, Fusarium semitectum had the highest mortality rate of 6.67%. Lastly, after 18 hours and 24 hours of incubation, 3.33% mortality rate was observed in Fusarium sp. 1 and Aspergillus flavus – treated corn cob