Bioconversion of wheat straw into animal feed and edible mushrooms by the tropical wood-rotting fungus Lentinus tuberregium

The bioconversion of wheat straw by Lentinus tuberregium (Fr.) Sing. was studied in a long term solid state fermentation process using sclerotium and. fruit body production, lignin degradation and in vitro digestibility as indices of bioconversion capability. L. tuberregium mediated transformation of straw including selective degradation of lignin (organic matter/lignin coefficient = 2) and increased the in vitro digestibility of the substrate. Supplement of wheat straw with ammonium nitrate enhanced the fungal metabolic rate as well as sclerotium and fruit body yield. In the supplemented substrate the maximum in vitro digestibility was achieved earlier compared to the nonsupplemented straw, but decreased later on. The results demonstrate the capability of L. tuberregium to mediate conversion of wheat straw into animal feed and edible mushrooms.