Novel techniques for the mass production of nutritionally improved, fungus‐treated lignocellulosic biomass for ruminant nutrition

BACKGROUND Laboratory‐scale experiments have shown that treatment with selective lignin‐degrading white‐rot fungi improves the nutritional value and ruminal degradability of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB). However, the lack of effective field‐applicable pasteurization methods has long been recognized as a major obstacle for scaling up the technique for fungal treatment of large quantities of LCB for animal feeding. In this study, wheat straw (an LCB substrate) was subjected to four field‐applicable pasteurization methods – hot‐water, formaldehyde fumigation, steam, and hydrated lime – and cultured with Pleurotus ostreatus grain spawn for 10, 20, and 30 days under solid‐state fermentation. Samples of untreated, pasteurized but non‐inoculated and fungus‐treated straws were analyzed for chemical composition, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), in vitro total gas (IVGP), methane (CH4), and volatile fatty acid (VFA) production. RESULTS During the 30‐day fungal treatment, steam and lime pasteurized straws had the greatest loss of lignin, resulting in marked improvements in crude protein (CP), IVDMD, IVGP, and total VFAs. Irrespective of the pasteurization method, the increase in IVDMD during fungal treatment was linearly (R2 = 0.77–0.92) related to lignin‐loss in the substrate during fungal treatment. The CH4 production of the fungus‐treated straw was not affected by the pasteurization methods. Aflatoxin B1 was within the safe level (