Abstract
The present study was conducted to assess the selection of low-cost substrate for inoculum preparation of Pleurotus ostreatus Microbial Type Culture Collection (MTCC) 142 for pretreatment of paddy straw. P. ostreatus MTCC 142, a white-rot fungus, known for its cellulolytic and ligninolytic properties can be used to degrade lignin present in the cell wall of paddy straw. Wheat grains are the most commonly used substrate for growing P. ostreatus, but it is not cost-effective. P. ostreatus MTCC 142 was grown on different low-cost substrates, namely, wheat straw, paddy straw (grinded), paddy straw (chopped), wood shavings, cow dung, cow dung slurry, charcoal and wheat straw combinations, paddy straw and charcoal combinations. Observations were made alternatively at different time durations (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 days) for the mycelia impregnation. Wheat straw and wheat straw combination with charcoal showed maximum mycelium impregnation by day 8. These substrates were further used to inoculate paddy straw for its degradation. Paddy straw degradation was observed through chemical and proximate analysis [total solids (TS), volatile solids (VS), cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and silica] and by measuring its cellulolytic activity at different time durations (5, 10, 15 and 20 days). This study showed that the wheat straw and wheat straw combination with charcoal are promising substrates for inoculum preparation of P. ostreatus MTCC 142 and showed maximum cellulolytic activity, for wheat straw: Carboxymethyl cellulose activity (103.3 U ml−1) (control 95.54 Uml−1), cellobiase activity (320.86 Uml-1) (control 317.61 U ml−1) and total cellulase activity (52.39 Uml-1) (control 49.14 Uml-1) and for wheat straw and charcoal combination: CMC activity 103.30 U ml−1, cellobiase activity 319.84 Uml−1 and total cellulase activity 52.42 Uml−1, as on day 20. This further needs to be examined for ligninolytic enzyme studies, to exploit them as the potential substrates for inoculum development of paddy straw degradation.
Published Version
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