Understanding of the contribution of the fungal treatment conditions in a wheat straw biorefinery that produces enzymes and biogas

This work proposes to study the fungal treatment time, substrate particle size and the response of three white rot fungi Trametes versicolor, Pleurotus eryngii and Pleurotus ostreatus in a biorefinery system working in two stages: enzyme and biogas production. Wheat straw in two size ranges was subjected to fungal treatment during 30 d to quantify the enzyme production every 3 d, whilst the biogas production was quantified after 0, 15 and 30 d of fungal treatment. The results showed that the kind of fungal strain had a predominant role in the maximum value of enzymatic activity and biogas yield. The most favourable fungal treatment condition to produce laccase and biogas was the one with Pleurotus ostreatus, carried out with the smallest particle size, reaching a peak of laccase activity of 6364 +/- 64 U/kg after 9 d and an improvement of 25% of biogas yield after 15 d of fungal treatment. In contrast, the worst performance was observed with the Pleurotus eryngii treatment.