Animal Feed Science Technology 71 Ž1998.

357–362

Short communication

The biodegradation of wheat straw by Pleurotus

ostreatus mushrooms and its use in cattle feeding
M. Adamovic´ a,) , G. Grubic´ b, Ivanka Milenkovic´ c ,
R. Jovanovic´ a , R. Protic´ a , Ljiljana Sretenovic´ a , Lj. Stoicevic
´ ´ a

a
PKB INI Agroekonomik, Belgrade-Padinska Skela, YugoslaÕia
b
Faculty of Agriculture, Belgrade-Zemun, YugoslaÕia
c
HK Agroekonomik, Belgrade, YugoslaÕia

Accepted 28 August 1997

Abstract

The influence of Pleurotus ostreatus enzymes on wheat straw degradation was investigated in
laboratory conditions. Chopped and pressure-pasteurized straw with 24% dry matter was seeded
with mushroom mycelium. Analyses of the straw were done on day 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120
after seeding. The mushroom collection was done four times. After seeding, NDF decreased from
824 to 485 g kgy1, ADF from 561 to 412 g kgy1. A similar tendency was found for hemicellulose
and cellulose, while it was not so pronounced for lignin. Ash content increased from 62.6 to 97.8
g kgy1. Degradation rates calculated for individual constituents of cell wall components were:
hemicellulose 0.902, lignin 0.450, NDF 0.402, cellulose 0.290 and ADF 0.276% dayy1. The
obtained results show that a substantial part of straw dry matter was degraded by the mushroom
enzymes. The effects were most notable for cell-wall components which allowed successful use of
the straw as a substrate for mushroom growth. It was assumed that spent Pleurotus compost may
be used as a part of the cattle diet. That was investigated in a feeding trial where compost formed
0% ŽControl., 10% ŽGroup I. and 17% ŽGroup II. of dietary dry matter. It was found that animals
would not consume mixed ration with more than 17% DM from compost. The decrease in daily
gain was observed with the increase of compost level in the diet. Average daily gains were 1150,
1140 and 990 g dayy1 respectively. Animals in Group II had significantly lower gain compared
with Control and Group I Ž P - 0.01.. The utilization of dry matter per kg of gain had a tendency
to decrease with the increased amount of compost in the diet. q 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.

Keywords: Degradation; Enzymes; Cell-wall components; Mushroom mycelium; Wheat straw; Cattle feeding

)
Corresponding author. Institute of Animal Husbandry, PKB INI Agroekonomik, Industrijsko naselje b.b.,
11213 Padinska Skela, Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Tel.: q38-1-11-8171143; fax: q38-1-11-8171140.

0377-8401r98r$19.00 q 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

PII S 0 3 7 7 - 8 4 0 1 Ž 9 7 . 0 0 1 5 0 - 8
358 M. AdamoÕic´ et al.r Animal Feed Science Technology 71 (1998) 357–362

1. Introduction

Enzyme complexes in certain mushroom strains from the genus Pleurotus among
others include: cellulase, cellobiase, hemicellulase, ligninase, laccase ŽPlatt et al., 1984;
Tsang et al., 1987.. Some authors suggest that straw Žcompost. degraded by those
enzymes during mushroom production can be more easily digested by ruminants ŽYang
et al., 1993; Adamovic´ et al., 1995a.. It contains more free sugars, more protein, less
cellulose and lignin, with an increased content of ash compared with beginning material
ŽRajatham and Bano, 1989.. The aims of this work were: Ž1. to investigate changes of
chemical composition of wheat straw as influenced by Pleurotus ostreatus mushroom
enzymes, and Ž2. to test how spent compost can be used in cattle feeding.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Experiment 1

Wheat straw used for this investigation was from winter wheat cultivar PKB-Rana
that botanically belongs to Triticum aestiÕum ssp. Õulgare var. latescens produced in
ˇ ˇ Rit near Belgrade. Straw,
the ‘PKB INI Agroekonomik’ Institute, located in Pancevacki
ranked as good quality, was chopped to 3–4 cm long pieces. The chopped straw was
soaked for 24 h in cold water. After removing excess water, the material was pasteurized
in an autoclave at a temperature of 808C. After 6 h of pasteurization the straw was left to
cool to 258C and inoculated with mycelium of P. ostreatus at an amount of 2% of the
substrate fresh weight. Before the incubation, mycelium was pre-made on a medium
based on wheat grain. The inoculated substrate was packed into polyethylene bags—3
kg in each with one for each sampling period.
Mycelium incubation was done at a temperature of 248C, with relative air humidity of
85%. After 28 days of incubation the temperature was lowered to 158C, relative air
humidity was increased to 92% and ventilation around bags was intensified. Under those
circumstances the mushroom collection period lasted 45 days.
Straw samples were analyzed before mycelium inoculation Žday 0., and after that on
day 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 after inoculation. Analyses ŽADF and lignin. were done

Table 1
Ingredients and composition of diets given to cattle Ž% of DM.
Parameters Control Group I Group II
Ingredients
Lucerne hay 20 20 20
Maize silage 38 28 21
Spent Pleurotus compost y 10 17
Concentrate mixture 42 42 42

Composition
NEg ŽMJ dayy1 . 60.2 62.0 58.1
Crude protein Žg kg DMy1 . 119 116 114
 M. AdamoÕic´ et al.r Animal Feed Science Technology 71 (1998) 357–362 359

Table 2
Composition of feeds used in the feeding trial Žg kg DMy1 .
Feed Dry matter Ash Ether extract Crude protein NEg ŽMJ kgy1 . NDF ADF
Lucerne hay 880 115 12 158 3.95 404 301
Maize silage 280 14 8 18 2.14 146 85
Spent Pleurotus compost 370 26 4 13 1.30 485 412
Concentrate mixturea 881 51 36 124 6.97 144 54
a
The composition of concentrate mixture Žg kgy1 . was: maize grain, 760; sunflower meal, 120; wheat bran,
100; limestone, 10; premix, 10; and salt, 5.

according to Association of Official Analytical Chemists Ž1984. and NDF according to

Van Soest et al. Ž1991. in EKO-LAB, Agricultural Corporation Belgrade. Hemicellulose
was calculated as NDF–ADF, while cellulose was calculated as ADF–lignin.
The rate of cell-wall components’ degradation Ž k . during mycelium incubation in
polyethylene bags was calculated by first-order kinetic equation by the method ex-
plained by Nocek and English Ž1985. as the slope of linear regression of natural
logarithm transformed data. The equation model was: R s ykt q R o where R was a
natural logarithm of present residual matter ŽADF, NDF, etc.. when time t G 0, yk was
the slope or the degradation rate coefficient, t was time and R o was residual matter at
time t s 0 Žthat was 100% in all cases.. Statistic procedures Žlinear regressions. used
were done according to Snedecor and Cochran Ž1982..

2.2. Experiment 2

Feeding trial was performed on three groups of 12 Simmenthal heifers aged 10–11
months. Each group was kept in separate box. Each box had a large outdoor part where
animals received their diet, separately for each group. Feeding regime is presented in
Table 1. Feed was offered twice a day Žat 0800 and 1400.. All ingredients were first
precisely weighted and then mixed Žin a mobile mixer. into a total mixed ration. This
was done to prevent selective feeding of animals. The adjusting period was 10 days,
after which all measures were taken. During that period the amount of the diet that
animals could consume without leftovers was detected. Leftovers were measured. At
that time it became apparent that animals do not want to consume mixed ration with
more than 17% DM from compost. The experimental period lasted 57 days.
Results were statistically analyzed by the one-way analyses of variance ŽSnedecor
and Cochran, 1982.. The average chemical composition of feeds used is given in Table
2. Net energy values ŽMJ NEg—for growth. were calculated according to Obracevic ˇ ´
Ž1984. as reviewed by Van der Honing and Alderman Ž1988..

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Experiment 1

Results reflecting the changes in straw chemical composition during the mycelium
growth and mushroom production are shown in Table 3. The crude protein content in the
360 M. AdamoÕic´ et al.r Animal Feed Science Technology 71 (1998) 357–362

Table 3
Changes in protein, ether extract and ash in wheat straw incubated with P. ostreatus mycelium Žg kg DMy1 .
Days after incubation Dry matter Crude protein Ether extract Ash
0a 195 38 19 63
15 183 40 15 63
30 193 43 16 64
45 215 44 16 70
60 223 46 17 74
90 245 45 15 84
120 250 41 12 98
a
Pasteurized wheat straw not incubated with mushroom mycelium.

straw substrate was increased during the first 60 days of investigation, after that it was
decreased to 40.5 g kgy1 at the end. Ash content was increased from 62.6 to 97.8 g
kgy1 .
The obtained results show changes in chemical composition of the straw during the
period of mushroom incubation. Similar results, obtained on the same mushroom
species, also found by Bano et al. Ž1984., Zadrazilˇ Ž1993. and Yang et al. Ž1993..
All cell-wall components decreased with time. The most pronounced changes are
shown in Table 4 for day 0 and day 120 and occurred in NDF Ž34%., hemicellulose
Ž17%., cellulose Ž15%. and ADF Ž15%.. The existing trend leads to the conclusion that
cell-wall components are being extensively degraded by P. ostreatus enzymes. The least
degradation occurred in lignin Ž4%., which was expected. Those results confirm data
obtained in other investigations by Platt et al. Ž1984., Tsang et al. Ž1987., Adamovic´ et
al. Ž1995b..
When comparing degradation rates calculated for individual components of cell-wall
components it may be observed that the highest value was for hemicellulose Ž0.902%.,
than for lignin Ž0.450%., NDF Ž0.402%. ADF Ž0.276%. and cellulose Ž0.290%.. It can
be concluded that cell-wall components have different rates of degradation when
subjected to P. ostreatus enzymes.

Table 4
Changes in the cell wall components and degradation rates in wheat straw incubated with P. ostreatus
mycelium Žin g kg DMy1 .
Days after incubation NDF ADF Hemicellulose Cellulose Lignin
0 824 561 263 453 109
15 770 560 210 472 88
30 714 523 192 436 87
45 689 513 176 433 80
60 657 473 184 398 76
90 561 421 141 346 75
120 485 412 74 341 71
Degradation rate, k Ž% dayy1 . 0.402 0.276 0.902 0.290 0.450
Repeatability 0.91 0.98 0.88 0.91 0.72
 M. AdamoÕic´ et al.r Animal Feed Science Technology 71 (1998) 357–362 361

Table 5
Average body weight, daily gains and dry matter utilization in feeding trial
Parameter Control Group I Group II
Initial body weight Žkg. 308 294 295
Body weight on the end of trial Žkg. 372 359 351
Average daily gain Žg. 1150 1140 990 )
Dry matter intake Žkg dayy1 . 8.51 9.25 9.06
Feed conversion ratio Žkg DMrkg gain. 7.41 8.14 9.14
)
P - 0.01.

3.2. Experiment 2

Results from the feeding trial are shown in Table 5. The average daily gains in
Control and Group I Ž10% compost. were significantly higher than in Group II Ž17%
compost.. This is likely an effect of the compost presence, which apparently lowered the
nutritive value and intake of the diet. A similar trend was observed by Kakkar et al.
Ž1990. in a trial where wheat straw was replaced with spent Pleurotus compost in cattle
diets. In that investigation cattle received larger quantities of compost Ž2 or 4 kg per
day. and their daily gain was lower—between 452 and 548 g.
During the feeding trial it was observed that spent Pleurotus compost was rejected
by the cattle. The animals would not eat it unless mixed with the silage. The original
intention was to have a maximum of 20% diet DM from compost in Group II, but that
amount was not acceptable to the animals. During the adjusting period they refused to
consume more than 17% DM of compost, so that was the amount which remained
during the trial.
Cereal straws, are a renewable source of energy, and play an important role in animal
feeding in many countries around the world. According to Chang Ž1993. 2.3 = 10 6 tons
of spent Pleurotus compost, mostly based on cereal straw, are produced in the world per
annum and the amount is increasing every year, following the expansion of mushroom
production. A considerable wheat straw degradation is achieved by the influence of P.
ostreatus enzymes, particularly of cell-wall components, cellulose and lignin. From
results obtained in this investigation it is not possible to conclude that the nutritive value
of the straw was improved during mushroom production, as the obtained compost was
disliked by the cattle.

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