The addition of Aspergillus flavus on composting process of cotton waste for cultivation of paddy straw mushroom [Volvariella volvacea (Bull.) Singer 1951]

Paddy straw mushroom [Volvariella volvacea (Bull.) Singer 1951] is a tropical edible mushroom and commonly cultivated in Indonesia. Composting process for preparing substrate plays an important role during mushroom cultivation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the addition of Aspergillus flavus, the lignocellulolytic fungi in the composting process of cotton waste for cultivation of V. volvacea. The result showed that there was an increase in temperature of compost of 27-58°C and pH of 7-8 for seven days observation. The concentration of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin was decreased from the 2nd days of the composting process in both the addition and without the addition of A. flavus. The highest concentration of glucose was 0.089 mg/mL without addition of A. flavus and 0.122 mg/mL with the addition of A. flavus. The highest concentration of xylose was 0.070 mg/mL without addition of A. flavus and 0.173 mg/mL with the addition of A. flavus. The fresh weight of the fruiting body of V. volvacea was 11.153 g and 9.395 g with the addition of A. flavus and without the addition of A. flavus in the composting process, respectively.