Bioconversion of Sawdust and Paper Treaded with Edible Fungus (Pleurotus pulmonarius)

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Pleurotus pulmonarius on proximate composition and solid-state fermentation of sawdust and waste paper, and to quantify the soluble sugar produced in the biodegraded samples. Studies were carried out on the biodegradation of sawdust and paper using P. pulmonarius in cultures incubated for 90 days. The results of proximate analysis showed decrease in moisture content crude fiber and hemicellulose, while ash and cellulose were increased. Sawdust has higher soluble sugar content at 30-90 days of fermentation. The crude fibre decreased significantly from 45.5% to 32.4%, 48.2% to 32.9%, 55.5% to 32.8%, 53.4 to 32.1%, 44.5% to 27.5% for sawdust (SD), paper-waste (PW), and three proportional ratio mixtures (PW1:SD3, PW3:SD1, PW1:SD1) substrates respectively. The nutrient contents, pH values, (%) fiber fractions showed significant differences of (P≤0.05) in the five substrates as the fermentation. Lignin contents of treated paper waste and sawdust were degraded by P. pulmonarius and a decrease was observed. There were also consistent significant decreases (P< 0.05) in the values obtained for NDF, ADF, ADL. Percentage NDF 75.4% to 57.32%, 68.1% to 57.05%, 67.21% to 56.8%, 75.49% to 58.36%, 74.3% to 59.13% for SD, PW, PW1:SD3, PW3:SD1, and PW1:SD1 substrates, respectively. Significant differences were observed in the hemicellulose and cellulose contents. The results obtained from the bioconversion process of selected wastes reveals the potential of extracellular enzymes produced by P. pulmonarius as a biotechnological tool for the transformation of waste in biological product.