Search

Pleurotus florida is a widely consumed and easily cultivated mushroom, valued for its high nutritional content. This study aimed to enhance its mineral content through substrate fortification, specifically using magnesium sulfate, to create more nutrientrich food products. Since minerals are crucial for mushroom growth, supplementing substrates can significantly improve both incubation and fructification, addressing the need for higher-quality mushrooms in functional foods and dietary supplements. Therefore, an experiment was conducted at the Mushroom Technology Laboratory, School of Studies in Biotechnology, Pt Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, India, to examine the effects of Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) on P. florida during the rainy season (July-October 2022) in both submerged and solid-state cultivation. Different concentration of MgSO4 (Control, 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg, 600 mg/kg, 800 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg) was supplemented to PDA media and paddy straw for cultivation of P.floridamushroom. The study assessed fruiting body production, mycelial biomass yield, protein content, and antioxidant activity. Results showed that MgSO4 significantly increased biomass production (28.67mg/100ml and 89.06g/500g of substrate for T3 for both mycelia and fruiting body), antioxidant activity (88.90 and 96.86% for control), and bioactive content (protein 20.28and 20.72 mg/100g for both mycelia and fruiting body respectively at treatment T4), notably affecting the mushrooms' metabolic profile (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that mineral-fortified P. florida mushrooms are rich in essential nutrients and have potential as valuable pharmaceutical products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Certain species of fungi are an important microflora which help in degradation of lignin. The study of lignin degrading-enzymes will help in achieving tremendous benefits of biomass utilization.In present studies a total of 71 fungal species were isolated from Mandeepkhol cave which is situated in Chhattisgarh state and is located in deep forest. The studies were conducted to assay for their ability to digest lignin. The assessment was done on the basis of mycelial growth and mycelial dry weight. Results show that Phenerochaete, Crysosporium, Penicillium meleagrinum var. viridiflavum, Penicillium citrinum and Alternaria alternata possess greater ligninolytic potency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioethanol is important as it becomessubstitute for gasoline and also mitigates the pollution caused by fossil fuel combustion. To make bioethanol competitive it is essential to reduce its production cost. This can be achieved by using lignocellulosic substrate due to their abundance and renewability and low cost. Azolla is a potential lignocellulosic substrate for bioethanol production. Biological pretreatment i.e. Enzyme sacchrification through Aspergillus niger is much more efficient and economically feasible than chemical pretreatment. The fermentable sugar released by enzyme sacchrification is 1.3 mg.mL-1 and by acid-alkali treatment is 2.5 mg.mL-1. However, the bioethanol production is higher in biologically treated Azolla (4.06%w/v) than the chemically treated Azolla (1.25%w/v), because of inhibitory compounds released during acid-alkali treatment. The yield of bioethanol production was enhanced by providing optimum conditions i.e. 30°C temperature, 8 days incubation, pH 7.0 and in the presence of 1% solution of potassium chloride. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biohydrogen is a clean energy source with a promising future as an alternative to fossil fuels for energy production. Production was carried out by fermentation process using natural inoculums present in the rice mill effluent, which was taken as a substrate. Mesophillic condition was found to be best suited for the production of biohydrogen and at a pH of 5.5 which gave maximum up to 80 ml production from the BG bacterium. Effects of temperature and pH on production were observed. Effect of fermentation on water quality before and after the production was analyzed by physicochemical tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]