Bacteria associated with compost used for cultivation of Nigerian edible mushrooms Pleurotus tuber-regium (Fr.) Singer, and Lentinus squarrosulus (Berk.)

The bacteria involved in an outdoor single phase composting using sawdust and wheat bran as substrates for cultivation of Pleurotus tuber-regium (Fr.) Singer, and Lentinus squarrosulus (Berk.), two Nigerian edible mushrooms were identified. Composting was carried out for 2 weeks. The highest core and peripheral temperatures were 68 and 48ºC, respectively, while the lowest temperature was 32ºC. The highest number of bacteria in the core and peripheral compost were 1.46 x 106 and 6.90 x 105 cfu/ml, respectively. Bacteria isolated and characterized from the fermenting agricultural substrates include Bacillus polymyxa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Micrococcus roseus, Citrobacter freundii, Bacillus subtilis, Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus licheniformis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli. The implication of the presence of these bacteria is discussed.Keywords: Lentinus squarrosulus, Pleurotus tuber-regium, bacteria mushrooms, compost, fermentatio

Bioactive compounds in ethanol extract of Lentinus squarrosulus Mont - a Nigerian medicinal macrofungus

Background: The continuous search for new lead compounds of therapeutic importance has become necessary in the face of treatment failures and multidrug resistance plaguing the world. While many plants and higher fungi are sources of bioactive compounds yet to be fully harnessed, understanding the bioactive components in macrofungus could serve as a lead for investigating its biological activities and medicinal potentials.Materials and Methods: The bioactive compounds in the ethanolic extract of Lentinus Squarrosulus, an edible Nigerian macrofungus, were investigated by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis.Results: There were nine bioactive compounds in this edible macrofungus. Of these compounds, 9,12-Octadecanoic acid ethyl ester (37.39%; RT:39.815) was the highest in quantity, followed by Hexadecanoic acid ethyl ester (14.49%; RT:36.550). Other fatty acids, their ethyl esters and other compounds identified included 2-Butenethioic acid,3-(ethylthio)-S-(1-methylethyl) ester (4.51%; RT:15.866), n-Hexadecanoic acid (4.74%; RT:36.034), 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z)- (11.88%; RT:39.429), 9,17-Octadecadienal,(Z)- (5.01%; RT:39.500), ethyl oleate (5.27%; RT:39.898), 3a,6-Methano-3aH-indene,2,3,6,7 tetrahydro (4.04%; RT:48.379), and 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z)-,2 hydroxy-1-(hydroxymethyl) ethyl ester (12.68%; RT:48.682). Some of these compounds have antimicrobial, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, hypocholesterolemic as well as cancer preventive activities amongst others.Conclusion: This study showed the bioactive components of therapeutic potentials in L. squarrosulus while creating a platform for screening, isolating and identifying many bioactive components which may be useful in the treatment of the various ailments, disorders and diseases in the nearest future.Keywords: Bioactive constituents; ethanolic extract; Lentinus squarrosulus; GC-MS analysis; mushroom; macrofung

Incidence and Chemical Implications of Aflatoxin in Street-Vended Foods

It is known that aflatoxin is produced by some Aspergillus fungal strains. Incidence of this toxin in food and feeds is as a result of contaminations by these fungal strains. Aspergillus strains are common in human environment, and their effects on foods are issues of global concern. First, we need an adequate knowledge of aflatoxin, then we can design proper control and regulatory strategies for its control. In this chapter, we present importance of street-vended foods and their possible health risk on the populace due to possible aflatoxin contamination; we took insights into types and incidences of reported aflatoxin contaminations in street-vended foods and reviewed the chemical nature, structures, and metabolism of aflatoxins and their actions as chemical poisons to human (mycotoxicosis) with deep insight into their toxicology. In addition, we review different environmental factors that may affect aflatoxin production in foods and also considered economic impact of aflatoxin contaminations of foodstuffs. In this chapter, we also discussed different aflatoxin aflatoxin detection methods in foods and examined available or possible regulations to best control its incidence in street-vended food. Adequate understanding of these important information about aflatoxin will form a bedrock for its control in street-vended food

BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS IN ETHANOL EXTRACT OF LENTINUS SQUARROSULUS MONT - A NIGERIAN MEDICINAL MACROFUNGUS

Background: The continuous search for new lead compounds of therapeutic importance has become necessary in the face of treatment failures and multidrug resistance plaguing the world. While many plants and higher fungi are sources of bioactive compounds yet to be fully harnessed, understanding the bioactive components in macrofungus could serve as a lead for investigating its biological activities and medicinal potentials. Materials and Methods: The bioactive compounds in the ethanolic extract of Lentinus Squarrosulus, an edible Nigerian macrofungus, were investigated by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Results: There were nine bioactive compounds in this edible macrofungus. Of these compounds, 9,12-Octadecanoic acid ethyl ester (37.39%; RT:39.815) was the highest in quantity, followed by Hexadecanoic acid ethyl ester (14.49%; RT:36.550). Other fatty acids, their ethyl esters and other compounds identified included 2-Butenethioic acid,3-(ethylthio)-S-(1-methylethyl) ester (4.51%; RT:15.866), n-Hexadecanoic acid (4.74%; RT:36.034), 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z)- (11.88%; RT:39.429), 9,17-Octadecadienal,(Z)- (5.01%; RT:39.500), ethyl oleate (5.27%; RT:39.898), 3a,6-Methano-3aH-indene,2,3,6,7 tetrahydro (4.04%; RT:48.379), and 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z)-,2 hydroxy-1-(hydroxymethyl) ethyl ester (12.68%; RT:48.682). Some of these compounds have antimicrobial, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, hypocholesterolemic as well as cancer preventive activities amongst others. Conclusion: This study showed the bioactive components of therapeutic potentials in L. squarrosulus while creating a platform for screening, isolating and identifying many bioactive components which may be useful in the treatment of the various ailments, disorders and diseases in the nearest future

Bacteria associated with compost used for cultivation of Nigerian edible mushrooms Pleurotus tuber-regium (Fr.) Singer, and Lentinus squarrosulus (Berk.)

The bacteria involved in an outdoor single phase composting using sawdust and wheat bran as substrates for cultivation of Pleurotus tuber-regium   (Fr.) Singer, and Lentinus squarrosulus   (Berk.), two Nigerian edible mushrooms were identified. Composting was carried out for 2 weeks. The highest core and peripheral temperatures were 68 and 48°C, respectively, while the lowest temperature was 32°C. The highest number of bacteria in the core and peripheral compost were 1.46 x 106 and 6.90 x 105 cfu/ml, respectively. Bacteria isolated and characterized from the fermenting agricultural substrates include Bacillus polymyxa   , Enterobacter aerogenes   , Micrococcus roseus   , Citrobacter freundii   , Bacillus subtilis   , Clostridium perfringens   , Bacillus licheniformis   , Pseudomonas aeruginosa   , Bacillus cereus   and Escherichia coli   . The implication of the presence of these bacteria is discussed

Bioconversion of maize husk into value added ruminant feed by using white-rot fungus

Treatment of crop wastes with some species of white-rot fungi can enhance the nutritive value. After solid state fermentation of maize (Zea mays L.) husk MH with four white-rot fungi (Pleurotus tuber-regium, Pleurotus pulmonarius, Pleurotus sajor caju and Lentinus subnudus) for 40 days, the chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of the resulting substrates was evaluated. Biodegradation increased the crude protein from 7.44% for untreated MH, (UM, control) to 9.89% for L. subnudus (LSM); 9.67% for P. tuber-regium (PTM) and 9.90% for P. pulmonarius (PPM) and 9.55% for P. sajor caju (PSM). In contrast, growth of fungi reduced crude fiber (CF) from 30.45% (UM) to 22.27, 24.29, 19.07 and 14.14% for LSM, PTM, PPM and PSM, respectively. The preference for cellulose and hemicellulose utilization by the fungi was indicated by decrease in values obtained. LSM had the least value for cellulose (27.43 %) while PSM with a hemicellulose content of 18.46% recorded the highest reduction in hemicellulose. There were significant differences (p . 0.05) between the treated and untreated maize husk in terms of metabolisable energy (ME), organic matter digestibility (OMD) and short chain fatty acid (SCFA) as measured by the in vitro gas production method using ruminal microflora. OMD ranged from 38.28-48.97% with highest values for fungal treated husk and lowest for untreated substrate. LSM showed the highest (p . 0.05) values for SCFA and ME for all the substrates under study. All the fungal treated substrates had the highest in vitro fermentation characteristics and cumulative gas production. Result of this study show that fungal treatment of maize husk enhanced digestibility by increasing the crude protein and decreasing the crude fiber.El tratamiento de residuos de cosechas con algunas especies de hongos causantes de la pudricion blanca puede mejorar su valor nutritivo. Despues de la fermentacion en estado solido de tusas de maiz (TM) (Zea mayz L.) con cuatro hongos causantes de la pudricion blanca (Pleurotus tuber-regium, Pleurotus pulmonarius, Pleurotus sajor caju y Lentinus subnudus) durante 40 dias se evaluo la composicion quimica y digestibilidad in vitro de los sustratos resultantes. La biodegradacion incremento la proteina cruda de 7,44% para las TM no tratadas (TMNT, control) a 9,89% para L. subnudus (TMTLS); 9,67% para P. tuberculo-regium (TMTPT); 9,90% para P. pulmonarius (TMTPP) y 9,55% para P. sajor caju (TMTPS). Por el contrario, el crecimiento de los hongos redujo la fibra cruda de 30,45% (TMNT) a 22,27; 24,29; 19,07 y 14,14% para TMTLS, TMTPT, TMTPP y TMTPS, respectively. La preferencia por la utilizacion de celulosa y hemicelulosa de los hongos fue indicada por la disminucion en los valores obtenidos. TMTLS (27,43%) tuvo el menor valor para la celulosa, mientras que TMTPS (18,46%) registro la menor reduccion de la hemicelulosa. Hubo diferencias significativas (p . 0,05) entre las TM tratadas y no tratadas en terminos de energia metabolisable (EM), digestibilidad de la materia organica (DMO) y de acidos grasos de cadena corta (AGCC). La DMO vario entre 38,28-48,97% y los mayores valores fueron aquellos de las TM tratadas con hongos y los menores para las no tratadas. TMTLS mostro el valor mas alto (p.0,05) para AGCC y EM para todos los sustratos en estudio. Todos los sustratos tratados con hongos tuvieron los mayores valores para las caracteristicas de fermentacion in vitro y produccion acumulada de gas. Los resultados de este estudio mostraron que el tratamiento de TM con hongos mejoro la digestibilidad mediante el incremento de la proteina cruda y la disminucion de la fibra crud

Bioconversión de la tusa de maíz como valor agregado en la alimentación de ruminates mediante el uso de hongos de la pudrición blanca

Treatment of crop wastes with some species of white-rot fungi can enhance the nutritive value. After solid state fermentation of maize ( Zea mayz L.) husk MH with four white-rot fungi (Pleurotus tuber-regium, Pleurotus pulmonarius, Pleurotus sajor caju and Lentinus subnudus) for 40 days, the chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of the resulting substrates was evaluated. Biodegradation increased the crude protein from 7.44% for untreated MH, (UM, control) to 9.89% for L. subnudus (LSM); 9.67% for P. tuber-regium (PTM) and 9.90% for P. pulmonarius (PPM) and 9.55% for P. sajor caju (PSM). In contrast, growth of fungi reduced crude fiber (CF) from 30.45% (UM) to 22.27, 24.29, 19.07 and 14.14% for LSM, PTM, PPM and PSM, respectively. The preference for cellulose and hemicellulose utilization by the fungi was indicated by decrease in values obtained. LSM had the least value for cellulose (27.43 %) while PSM with a hemicellulose content of 18.46% recorded the highest reduction in hemicellulose. There were significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) between the treated and untreated maize husk in terms of metabolisable energy (ME), organic matter digestibility (OMD) and short chain fatty acid (SCFA) as measured by the in vitro gas production method using ruminal microflora. OMD ranged from 38.28-48.97% with highest values for fungal treated husk and lowest for untreated substrate. LSM showed the highest (p ≤ 0.05) values for SCFA and ME for all the substrates under study. All the fungal treated substrates had the highest in vitro fermentation characteristics and cumulative gas production. Result of this study show that fungal treatment of maize husk enhanced digestibility by increasing the crude protein and decreasing the crude fiber.El tratamiento de residuos de cosechas con algunas especies de hongos causantes de la pudrición blanca puede mejorar su valor nutritivo. Después de la fermentación en estado sólido de tusas de maíz (TM) ( Zea mayz L.) con cuatro hongos causantes de la pudrición blanca (Pleurotus tuber-regium, Pleurotus pulmonarius, Pleurotus sajor caju y Lentinus subnudus) durante 40 días se evaluó la composición química y digestibilidad in vitro de los sustratos resultantes. La biodegradación incrementó la proteína cruda de 7,44% para las TM no tratadas (TMNT, control) a 9,89% para L. subnudus (TMTLS); 9,67% para P. tubérculo-regium (TMTPT); 9,90% para P. pulmonarius (TMTPP) y 9,55% para P. sajor caju (TMTPS). Por el contrario, el crecimiento de los hongos redujo la fibra cruda de 30,45% (TMNT) a 22,27; 24,29; 19,07 y 14,14% para TMTLS, TMTPT, TMTPP y TMTPS, respectively. La preferencia por la utilizacion de celulosa y hemicelulosa de los hongos fue indicada por la disminución en los valores obtenidos. TMTLS (27,43%) tuvo el menor valor para la celulosa, mientras que TMTPS (18,46%) registró la menor reducción de la hemicelulosa. Hubo diferencias significativas (p ≤ 0,05) entre las TM tratadas y no tratadas en términos de energía metabolisable (EM), digestibilidad de la materia orgánica (DMO) y de ácidos grasos de cadena corta (AGCC). La DMO varió entre 38,28-48,97% y los mayores valores fueron aquellos de las TM tratadas con hongos y los menores para las no tratadas. TMTLS mostró el valor más alto (p≤0,05) para AGCC y EM para todos los sustratos en estudio. Todos los sustratos tratados con hongos tuvieron los mayores valores para las características de fermentación in vitro y producción acumulada de gas. Los resultados de este estudio mostraron que el tratamiento de TM con hongos mejoró la digestibilidad mediante el incremento de la proteína cruda y la disminución de la fibra cruda

Fungal Biodeterioration, Aflatoxin Contamination, and Nutrient Value of “Suya Spices”

This work aimed to analyze the nutrient values, examine the biodeteriorating fungi biota, and analyze the mycotoxin contents of “Suya spices.” Fungi with highest percentage occurrence on all the samples are Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus, Aspergillus ochraceus, Fusarium sp., Rhizopus stolonifer, yeast, and Trichoderma koningii. Nutrient composition of the samples is significantly different statistically (P<0.05) with high protein (9.53% to 13.17%), fiber (9.27 to 13.17%), carbohydrate (46.27% to 50.90%), and ash (8.47% to 9.70%) contents but low moisture (9.03% to 9.47%) and fat (9.77% to 13.53%) contents. Aflatoxin analysis of the samples revealed that they all contain aflatoxin in varying amount but no detectible aflatoxin content in the control. 59.54% of the detected aflatoxin is aflatoxin B1 with highest recorded in Agbowo, Mokola, and Sango samples (i.e., 28.03, 22.44, and 13.8 μg/kg, resp.). 4.78% of the aflatoxin is aflatoxin B2 which is only found in Sango and Mokola samples (3.59 and 2.6 μg/kg, resp.). 32.76% of aflatoxin is aflatoxin G1 with the highest found in Agbowo and Mokola samples (i.e., 18.63 and 10.41 μg/kg, resp.). 2.93% of the aflatoxin is aflatoxin G2 which is only detected in Sango and Agbowo samples (i.e., 1.19 and 2.65 μg/kg, resp.)

Synergistic rhizosphere degradation of γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (lindane) through the combinatorial plant-fungal action

<div><p>Fungi are usually involved in degradation/deterioration of many anthropogenic wastes due to their verse enzyme secretions and adaptive capabilities. In this study, five dominant fungal strains were isolated from an aged lindane polluted site, they were all mixed (100 mg each) together with pent mushroom compost (SMC) and applied to lindane polluted soil (5 kg) at 10, 20, 30, 40% and control 0% (soil with no treatment), these were used to grow <i>M</i>. <i>maximus</i> Jacq for 3 months. To establish lindane degradation, deductions such as Degradation rate (K₁), Half-life (t_1/2) and Degradation efficiency (DE) were made based on the analyzed lindane concentrations before and after the experiment. We also tested the presence and expressions of phosphoesterases (<i>mpd</i> and <i>opd-A</i>) and catechol 1,2-dioxygenases (<i>efk2</i> and <i>efk4</i>) genes in the strains. The stains were identified as <i>Aspergillus niger</i> (KY693970); <i>Talaromyces atroroseus</i> (KY488464), <i>Talaromyces purpurogenus</i> (KY488468), <i>Yarrowia lipolytica</i> (KY488469) and <i>Aspergillus flavus</i> (KY693973) through morphological and molecular methods. Combined rhizospheric action of <i>M</i>. <i>maximus</i> and fungi speed up lindane degradation rate, initially detected lindane concentration of 45 mg/kg was reduced to 11.26, 9.34 and 11.23 mg/kg in 20, 30 and 40% treatments respectively making 79.76, 85.93 and 88.67% degradation efficiencies. K₁ of 1.29 was recorded in control while higher K₁ of 1.60, 1.96 and 2.18 /day were recorded in 20, 30 and 40% treatments respectively. The best t_1/2 of 0.32 and 0.35 /day were recorded in 40 and 30% compared to control (0.54 /day). All the strains were also affirmed to possess the tested genes; <i>opd</i> was overexpressed in all the strains except KY693973 while <i>mpd</i> was overexpressed in KY693970, KY488464 but moderately expressed in KY488468, KY488469 and KY693973. However, <i>efk</i> genes were under-expressed in most of the strains except KY488469 and KY693973 which showed moderate expression of <i>efk4</i>. This work suggests that the synergistic association of the identified rhizospheric fungi and <i>M</i>. <i>maximus</i> roots could be used to remove lindane in soil at a limited time period and this combination could be used at large scale.</p></div