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Solid-State Fermentation of Trichoderma spp.: A New Way to Valorize the Agricultural Digestate and Produce Value-Added Bioproducts

Summary

This research demonstrates an innovative way to convert agricultural waste into valuable products using fungi. Scientists showed that agricultural digestate (waste from biogas production) can be used to grow beneficial fungi that produce compounds useful for improving plant growth. This process represents a sustainable solution for managing waste while creating valuable agricultural products. Impacts on everyday life: – Provides an environmentally friendly way to handle agricultural waste – Creates natural plant growth promoters for improved crop production – Reduces the need for chemical fertilizers in agriculture – Contributes to more sustainable farming practices – Helps develop circular economy solutions for waste management

Background

The European Union Bioeconomy Strategy highlighted the need for sustainable conversion of organic waste resources. Anaerobic digestion produces large amounts of digestate waste that requires environmentally sustainable and economically feasible processing. Filamentous fungi like Trichoderma can be employed as biocatalysts to produce valuable metabolites and enzymes through solid-state fermentation of waste materials.

Objective

To investigate the use of agricultural digestate mixed with food wastes as a substrate for solid-state fermentation using Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30 and Trichoderma atroviride Ta13 to produce high-value bioproducts like bioactive molecules for use as biostimulants.

Results

Both Trichoderma species successfully grew on the digestate substrate and produced cellulase, esterase, and citric/malic acids. T. atroviride also produced gibberellins and oxylipins as shown by UPLC-QTOF-MS analysis. The crude extracts from T. atroviride fermentation significantly enhanced tomato seed germination and root elongation compared to controls.

Conclusion

The study demonstrates that agricultural digestate mixed with food waste can serve as an effective substrate for fungal solid-state fermentation to produce valuable bioproducts. This provides a novel sustainable strategy to valorize digestate waste while generating beneficial compounds for agricultural applications like biostimulants.
  • Published in:Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry,
  • Study Type:Laboratory Research,
  • Source: 10.1021/acs.jafc.2c07388
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