Production of carpophores of Lentinus edodes and Ganoderma lucidum grown on cork residues.

Cork, being widely used in industry, generates high amounts of waste of difficult elimination because of its complex biological degradation, and the high pollutant smokes from its burning. Similarities between suberin (major component of cork) and lignin suggest that fungi with high lignin degrading capacity could colonize cork residues. Basidiomycetes such as Lentinus edodes and Ganoderma lucidum, besides their capacity for degrading, are edible. Thus, while using them to degrade cork, it is also possible to obtain a food product. In this study, dry matter was reduced 40%, suberin was degraded 45%, oxidizable carbon was increased 35%, and Lentinus showed a high rate of growth. These results indicate that there is an environmental alternative to the elimination of residues from the cork industry.