LSD: Least significant difference, ADF: Acid detergent fibre, NDF: Neutral detergent fibre, ADL: Acid detergent lignin. Mean values followed by the same letter do not differ significantly according to Fisher’s Least Significant Difference (LSD, α = 0.05).

Total fibre reduction

In order to determine degradation of the lignocellulose complex for the duration of the experiment, linear regression scatterplots and Pearson correlation coefficients (R) were conducted. All Pearson correlation coefficients, with the exception of mean ADL percentage at grind 1 ofG. lucidum (p ~ 0.053), were significant (α = 0.05). Solid-state fermentation across grind consistency G2 and all mushroom species indicated a negative association with experimental time units, suggesting successful degradation of lignocellulose complex from week 0 to week 18. The strength of the time series associations varied between the measurement parameters, ADF, NDF and ADL. The maximum degradation over time was reported with mean ADF and mean NDF (R < - 0.8; Figure 6 and Figure 7). In contrast, weaker relationships were recorded in mean ADL across the experimental time units, where R values ranged from -0.63 to -0.76 (Figure 8). Total reductions (% total DM) of ADF, NDF and ADL of the total dry matter are shown in Tables 8 to 10.
Table 8. Total ADF reduction percentage of substrate after 18 weeks of solid-state fermentation using M1: P . ostreatus,M2: G. lucidum and M3: Ganoderma #1.