Abstract
The increasing growth of agro-industrial activity resulting in excessive
amounts of agri-waste has led to the accumulation of a large quantity of
lignocellulosic residues all over the world, in particular,
deforestation initiatives for the removal of invasive trees in South
Africa. These lignocellulosic residues are rich in energy resources
consisting of a mixture of natural polymers based on lignin, cellulose
and hemicellulose. The use of lignolytic fungi such as mushrooms in
solid-state fermentation could sufficiently degrade the indigestible
lignocellulosic components and add medicinal and nutritional value to
otherwise unusable, high-energy waste material. The digestive type of
animal for which the potential feed is developed must be identified and
considered before deciding on the bioconversion method and process,
since the outcomes for obtaining potentially high-quality feeds for
non-ruminant and ruminant animals are different. The current study
presents the data of the bioconversion of lignocellulosic substrate
using solid-state fermentation with the edible and medicinal mushrooms,Ganoderma lucidum, Pleurotus ostreatus , and a possible new
species, to increase digestibility and nutritional value to be applied
as ruminant animal feed. The solid-state fermentation process was
optimised and the resulting product analysed for the degradation of the
lignocellulosic components. Results indicated that the solid-state
fermentation duration and mushroom species were key components in
achieving significant degradation. Data obtained after 18 weeks of
degradation indicated a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in
the acid detergent fibre, acid detergent lignin and neutral detergent
fibre fractions of the biomass, with up to 20% reduction in
indigestible components. This increase in digestibility could contribute
to to increased energy availability for ruminant animals.