Spent mushroom compost (SMC), a byproduct of commercial mushroom cultivation, poses serious environmental problems that have hampered the growth of this important agro-industry. In an effort to develop new applications for SMC, we explored its use as a feedstock for bioethanol production. SMC constitutes approximately 30%w/w polysaccharides, 66% of which is glucan. Following dilute-acid pretrea...

Actinobacteria are widely distributed in many environments and represent the most important trigger to the occupant respiratory health. Health complaints, including hypersensitivity pneumonitis of the workers, were recorded in a mushroom compost facility (MCF). The studies on the airborne bacteria were carried out to find a possible microbiological source of these symptoms. Culture analysis of ...

In order to evaluate the effect of medium and spraying calcium nano-fertilizer on quality of cut gerbera flowers, an experiment was conducted as factorial in completely randomized design with 7 media and 3 calcium nano-fertilizer concentrations with 3 replications. The media included cocopeat + perlite (1:1), peat moss + perlite (1:1), mushroom compost + perlite (1:1), peat moss + cocopeat + pe...

Four containerized deciduous ornamental shrubs [deutzia (Deutzia gracilis L.), silverleaf dogwood (Cornus nlba 'Elegantissima'), red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea L.), and ninebark (Physocarpirs optilifolius L.)] were grown during each of two separate growing seasons using 12 different immature (nonaged) composts as media (year one, 12 weeks from start of windrowing; year two, 16-weeks) and als...

The fungus Agaricus bisporus is commercially grown for the production of edible mushrooms. This cultivation occurs on compost, but not all of this substrate is consumed by the fungus. To determine why certain fractions remain unused, carbohydrate degrading enzymes, water-extracted from mushroom-grown compost at different stages of mycelium growth and fruiting body formation, were analyzed for t...