Biodegradation of Agro-Waste Polysaccharides By Pleurotus pulmonarius (Fr.) Quél.

Degradation and solubilisation of plant organic wastes using P. pulmonarius is a recycling technology that could be explored and adopted in developing countries. The test substrates; saw dust (SD), sugarcane bagasse (SB) and maize stalk (MS) and in combination (SD+MS, SD+SB, SB+MS, SD+MS+SB) contained polysaccharides that were degraded by P. pulmonarius. The hemicelluloses, cellulose and lignin contents of the agro-wastes were significantly (P<0.05) degraded by the fungus to varying degrees. The loss of hemicelluloses content of the substrates ranged from 24.98% with MS substrate to 44.02% with SB substrate, cellulose content from 16.13% with SD substrate to 32.79% with SB substrate and lignin content from 8.07 % with SB substrate to 31.25% with MS substrate indicating that the fungus can not only efficiently degrade agricultural wastes and grow at a wide range of substrates but also of importance in biodegradation and bioremediation of a wide range of wastes and pollutants.