Effectiveness of fungal treatment by Coprinopsis cinerea and Polyporus tricholoma on degradation and methane yields of lignocellulosic grass

• Paragrass was treated aerobically with Coprinopsis cinerea and Polyporus tricholoma.
• Two-stage fungal treatment and anaerobic digestion was investigated.
• Reduction in the cellulose crystallinity was evident in the fungal treated grass.
• Recalcitrant cellulose in the fungal treated grass was reduced significantly.
• Lag phase in methane production from the fungal treated grass was shorter.

The effectiveness of fungal treatment by Coprinopsis cinerea and Polyporus tricholoma on biodegradability and methane yield of paragrass was investigated. After 15 days fungal treatment, reduction in cellulose crystallinity was found in grass treated with C. cinerea and P. tricholoma. The maximum methane production rate occurred at day 10 for the grass treated with C. cinerea, day 13 for the grass treated with P. tricholoma, and day 22 for the untreated grass. However, after 140 day anaerobic digestion, the methane yield of the grass treated by C. cinerea and by P. tricholoma was approximately 15% lower than that of the untreated grass, which was 368 mL STP/g VS added. Using two-stage fungal treatment and anaerobic digestion, the recalcitrant cellulose in the fungal treated grass was significantly lower than that of the untreated grass (P < 0.05), while the amounts of recalcitrant hemicellulose were approximately the same.

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