Bioconversion of Straw Into Improved Fodder: Mycoprotein Production and Cellulolytic Acivity of Rice Straw Decomposing Fungi

Sixty two out of the sixty four species of fungal isolates tested could produce both $exo-{\beta}1,4-gluconase\;(C_1)$ and $endo-{\beta}1,4-gluconase\;(C_x)$ on pure cellulose and rice straw as carbon source in Czapek's medium. Fifty-eight and fifteen species were able to grow at $25^{\circ}C$ and at $45^{\circ}C$, respectively. Eleven species could grow at both $25^{\circ}C$ and $45^{\circ}C$ while, four species appeared only at $45^{\circ}C$. The most cellulolytic species at $25^{\circ}C$ was Trichoderma koningii producing 1.164 $C_1$ (mg glucose/1 ml culture filtrate/1 hr) and 2.690 $C_x$ on pure cellulose, and 0.889 $C_1$, and 1.810 $C_x$ on rice straw, respectively. At $45^{\circ}C$, the most active thermotolerant species were Aspergillus terreus, followed by A. fumigatus. Talaromyces thermophilus was the highest active thermophilic species followed by Malbranchea sulfurea. Most of these species were also active in fermentation of rice straw at 25 and $45^{\circ}C$ (P<0.05). The most active ones were T. koningii, A. ochraceus and A. terreus, which produced 201.5, 193.1 and 188.1 mg crude protein/g dry straw, respectively.