Bacterial Community Diversity, Lignocellulose Components, and Histological Changes in Composting Using Agricultural Straws for Agaricus bisporus Production

Author: mycolabadmin
2021-02-09
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Summary

This research investigated how different types of agricultural waste straws can be used to grow edible mushrooms. The study found that wheat straw, rice straw, and cotton straw were the most effective materials for mushroom production when properly composted with help from specific bacteria. This has important implications for sustainable agriculture and food production. Impacts on everyday life: • Provides a sustainable way to convert agricultural waste into nutritious food • Helps reduce environmental pollution from burning agricultural straws • Offers farmers additional income opportunities through mushroom cultivation • Demonstrates how to optimize local agricultural waste for food production • Contributes to more sustainable and circular agricultural practices

Background

Agricultural straws (AS) are organic agricultural residues produced globally at 2-4 billion tons per year, which is 1.4 times the annual crop yield. AS comprise mainly lignocellulosic biomass, most of which is burned in China. AS waste is rich in macromolecular organic matter including cellulose, hemicellulose, starch and lignin. Mushroom cultivation is one of the most efficient and economical biotechnological processes for converting lignocellulosic materials into high quality food.

Objective

To investigate six major agricultural straws and residues (wheat straw, rice straw, cotton straw, corncob, corn straw, and bagasse) as potential base substances for Agaricus bisporus production through analysis of lignocellulose components, AS morphology, mushroom yields, and microbial biodiversity during composting.

Results

The wheat straw, rice straw, and cotton straw induced significantly higher mushroom yields compared to other substrates. After Phase II composting, all substances had significantly less hemicellulose than initial materials, and cotton straw, wheat straw, rice straw and corncob had significantly less cellulose. The dominant bacterial phyla were Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria. The genera Thermobispora, Thermopolyspora, and Vulgatibacter played important roles in agricultural straw degradation.

Conclusion

The six different agricultural straws exhibited varying degradation patterns under identical composting conditions. Wheat straw, rice straw, and cotton straw produced significantly higher mushroom yields through 16 days of composting. The bacterial genera Thermobispora, Thermopolyspora, and Vulgatibacter appear crucial for agricultural straw degradation. These findings can help optimize composting methods and formulations for different agricultural straws to achieve high-yield mushroom production.

Published in:PeerJ,
Study Type:Experimental Study,
Source: 10.7717/peerj.10452