Decomposition of asparagus old stalks by Pleurotus spp. under mushroom-growing conditions

The aim of this work is to evaluate the decomposition of asparagus old stalks by five species of Pleurotus under mushroom-growing conditions. P. ostreatus gave the highest yield (270 g/bag) of fruit bodies at the first flush and the highest lignin degradation rate (68.4%) and cellulose degradation rate (56.2%) of asparagus old stalks substrate, followed by P. geesteranus, P. abalonus, P. eryngii and P. nebrodensi; P. geesteranus gave the highest hemicellulose degradation rate (35.8%). By contrast, the five species of Pleurotus had stronger decomposition ability to lignin and cellulose and weaker decomposition ability to hemicellulose in asparagus old stalks substrate. All the species reached their maximal carboxymethyl cellulose, xylanase, laccase, manganese dependent peroxidase and filter paper activities at the primordial stage. Moreover, the activity peaks of these lignocellulolytic enzymes of P. ostreatus were higher than that of other four species.