In order to improve the digestibility and nutrient availability in rumen, wheat straw was subjected to solid state fermentation (SSF) with white-rot fungi (i.e. Pleurotus ostreatus and Trametes versicolor) and the fermented biomass (called myco-straw) was evaluated for biochemical, enzymatic and nutritional parameters. The fungal treatment after 30 days led to significant decrease (P < 0.05) in cell wall constituents viz, acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), hemicellulose, lignin and cellulose to the extent of 35.00, 38.88, 45.00, 37.48 and 37.86%, respectively in P. ostreatus fermented straw, while 30.04, 33.85, 39.90, 31.29 and 34.00%, respectively in T. versicolor fermented straw. However, maximum efficiency of fermentation in terms of low carbohydrate consumption per unit of lignin degradation, favoring cattle feed production was observed for P. ostreatus on the 10th day (17.12%) as compared with T. versicolor on the 30th day (16.91%). The myco-straw was found to contain significantly high (P < 0.05) crude protein (CP; 4.77% T. versicolor, 5.08% P. ostreatus) as compared to control straw (3.37%). Metabolizable energy (ME, MJ/kg DM), percent organic matter digestibility (OMD) and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs; mmol) production also increased considerably from control straw (4.40, 29.91 and 0.292) to a maximum up to P. ostreatus fermented straw (4.92, 33.39 and 0.376 on 20th day) and T. versicolor fermented straw (4.66, 31.74 and 0.334 on 10th day), respectively. Moreover, the myco-straw had lower organic carbon and was rich in nitrogen with lower C/N ratio as compared to control wheat straw. Results suggest that the fungal fermentation of wheat straw effectively improved CP content, OM digestibility, SCFAs production, ME value and simultaneously lowered the C/N ratio, thus showing potential for bioconversion of lignin rich wheat straw into high energy cattle feed.

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Wheat straw was fermented by Crinipellis sp. RCK-1, a lignin degrading fungus, under solid state fermentation conditions. The fungus degraded 18.38% lignin at the expense of 10.37% cellulose within 9 days. However, when wheat straw fermented for different duration was evaluated in vitro, the 5 day fungal fermented wheat straw called here “Biotech Feed” was found to possess 36.74% organic matter digestibility (OMD) and 5.38 (MJ/Kg Dry matter) metabolizable energy (ME). The Biotech Feed was also observed to be significantly enriched with essential amino acids and fungal protein by fungal fermentation, eventually increasing its nutritional value. The Biotech Feed upon in vitro analysis showed potential to replace 50% grain from concentrate mixture. Further, the calves fed on Biotech Feed based diets exhibited significantly higher (p<0.05) dry matter intake (DMI: 3.74 Kg/d), dry matter digestibility (DMD: 57.82%), total digestible nutrients (TDN: 54.76%) and comparatively gained 50 g more daily body weight.

The variables influencing laccase production by white-rot fungus Ganoderma sp. rckk-02 were optimized employing response surface methodology. Malt extract (6.0% w/v), lignin (0.5% w/v) and pH (5.5) were found to be the most significant factors for enhanced laccase production by 7 fold (226.0 U/ml) as compared to unoptimized growth conditions (32.0 U/ml). The N-terminal sequence of laccase revealed its distinct amino acid profile (S- I- R- N- S- G), which suggested it as a novel enzyme. The Far-UV CD spectrum of the laccase showed single broad negative trough at around 213 nm, a typical signature of all β proteins. The laccase was found to fall in the range of middle redox potential laccases. Purified laccase at dosage of 2.5 Ug−1 body weight when supplemented with pelleted diet of rats, a significant improvement (p < 0.05) in nutrients digestibility without causing any elevation of blood stress enzymes was observed.

Lignocelluloses from agricultural, industrial, and forest residues constitute a majority of the total biomass present in the world. Environmental concerns of disposal, costly pretreatment options prior to disposal, and increased need to save valuable resources have led to the development of value-added alternate technologies such as bioethanol production from lignocellulosic wastes. In the present study, biologically pretreated (with the fungus, Pleurotus ostreatus HP-1) and chemically pretreated (with mild acid or dilute alkali) wheat straw (WS) and banana stem (BS) were subsequently subjected to enzymatic saccharification (with mixture of 6.0 U/g of filter paper cellulase and 17 U/g of β-glucosidase) and were evaluated for bioethanol production using Saccharomyces cerevisiae NCIM 3570. Biological and chemical pretreatments removed up to 4.0–49.2 % lignin from the WS and BS which was comparatively higher than that for cellulose (0.3–12.4 %) and for hemicellulose (0.7–21.8 %) removal with an average 5.6–49.5 % dry matter loss. Enzymatic hydrolysis yielded 64–306.6 mg/g (1.5–15 g/L) reducing sugars from which 0.15–0.54 g/g ethanol was produced from Saccharomyces cerevisiae NCIM 3570.