Spent mushroom substrate Agaricus bisporus in the production of pepper seedlings

Mushroom cultivation generates a large volume of SMS (spent mushroom substrate), which needs to be properly discarded to avoid contamination of new production cycles. However, SMS is a rich substrate, and can be used to produce vegetable seedlings. The present study evaluated the feasibility of using SMS of Agaricus bisporus as substrate for production of sweet pepper seedlings. The culture substrate was composed of sugar cane bagasse, horse manure, rice straw, soybean meal, chicken bed, urea, potassium chloride, simple superphosphate and gypsum. After cultivation, the SMS was homogenized, wet and composted. The substrate thus processed is the SMS of A. bisporus. The substrate Carolina II® was used as control. The following treatments were evaluated: T1- 100% Carolina II; T2 - 25% SMS + 75% Carolina II; T3-50% SMS + 50% Carolina II; T4- 75% SMS + 25% Carolina II and T5- 100% SMS). Seedling and germination characteristics were evaluated. The best germination parameters were observed with the treatment containing 50% of SMS, compared to the commercial substrate. However, for the quality parameters of the seedlings, the best results were obtained with 100% SMS treatment. Therefore, the use of different SMS percentages for the production of pepper seedlings is an alternative to reduce the production cost. The treatment with 100% SMS presented the best DQI values, as it produced vigorous and better quality pepper seedlings

Utilização de resíduos agroindustriais como substratos para produção de enzimas pectinolíticas pelo agente biológico “G088

[POR] Recentemente, um grande número de microrganismos, isolado de diferentes materiais tem sido selecionado, por sua habilidade de degradar os polissacarídeos presentes em biomassa vegetal produzindo pectinases (enzimas pectinolíticas) em substratos sólidos. As enzimas pectinolíticas têm grande importância comercial para diversas aplicações industriais, como melhorar os rendimentos de suco e clarificação na indústria de alimentos, cervejaria e indústria farmacêutica e têxtil. Objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar o potencial de produção de enzimas pectinolíticas pelo agente biológico “G088” em resíduos vegetais utilizados como substratos. A primeira etapa foi inocular o agente biológico nos diferentes substratos: bagaço de laranja, bagaço de cana de açúcar, casca de uva, casca de maracujá, casca de café e arroz. As atividades enzimáticas de poligalacturonase (PG) e pectina metil esterase (PME) dos substratos foram avaliadas em função do tempo de cultivo e do tipo de substrato. Foram feitas análises de quantificação de pectina, pH, umidade e acidez titulável dos substratos com inóculo e da composição centesimal dos substratos sem inóculo. Os diferentes substratos apresentaram atividades da PG e PME, com destaque para a casca de uva e arroz. Porém o melhor substrato para produção de PG (117,35 U/g) e PME (1760 U/g) aos 14 dias foi à casca de uva. A composição do substrato tem influência direta na produção de PG e PME

Microbial additives in the composting process

ABSTRACT Composting is the process of natural degradation of organic matter carried out by environmental microorganisms whose metabolic activities cause the mineralization and partial humification of substances in the pile. This compost can be beneficially applied to the soil as organic fertilizer in horticulture and agriculture. The number of studies involving microbial inoculants has been growing, and they aim to improve processes such as composting. However, the behavior of these inoculants and other microorganisms during the composting process have not yet been described. In this context, this work aimed to investigate the effects of using a microbial inoculum that can improve the composting process and to follow the bacterial population dynamics throughout the process using the high-resolution melt (HRM) technique. To do so, we analysed four compost piles inoculated with Bacillus cereus, Bacillus megaterium, B. cereus + B. megaterium and a control with no inoculum. The analyses were carried out using samples collected at different stages of the process (5th to 110th days). The results showed that the bacterial inocula influenced the process of composting, altering the breakdown of cellulose and hemicelluloses and causing alterations to the temperature and nitrogen levels throughout the composting process. The use of a universal primer (rDNA 16S) allowed to follow the microbial succession during the process. However, the design of a specific primer is necessary to follow the inoculum throughout the composting process with more accuracy

Enzyme activity and biochemical changes during production of Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler

Abstract Shiitake is an important edible and medicinal mushroom cultivated worldwide. Its cultivation involves a complex process of browning that precedes the primordia initiation. The present work through the evaluation of enzymes, lectin and β-glucan during the cultivation cycle of Lentinula edodes, the degradation of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, attempted to correlate these with mushroom yield. Strains UFLA-LE1, UFLA-LE2 and UFLA-LE6 consumed significantly more hemicelluloses than the other three strains with strain LE5 consuming significantly the most lignin of all six strains. Strains UFLA-LE4 and UFLA-LE6 were significantly the most productive. The laccase activity increased continuously until the end of the cultivation for all strains. Manganese peroxidase activities, except for UFLA-LE3, remained relatively stable. On the other hand, lignin peroxidase was the main lignin-modifying enzyme with much higher activity compared to laccase and manganese peroxidase. Tyrosinase activity was stable at an elevated level during the cultivation cycle, dramatically reaching the highest activity at the end of the cultivation period. The amounts of lectin and β-glucan varied greatly depending on the strain and the time of cultivation. Despite the many differences between strains in all evaluated parameters no direct association to the browning process was observed

Inibição do desenvolvimento fúngico através da utilização de óleos essenciais de condimentos Inhibition fungi growth through of utilization essential oils of spice

Objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar os efeitos inibitórios, "in vitro", de óleos essenciais dos condimentos, alecrim (Rosmarinus officinalis L.), cebola (Allium cepa L.), manjericão (Ocimum basilicum L.), menta (Mentha piperita L.) e orégano (Origanum vulgare L.), sobre o desenvolvimento de fungos. Os óleos foram extraídos pela técnica de arraste a vapor e testados nas concentrações de 500; 1000; 1500 e 2000 mg/mL-1. Como culturas de teste foram utilizados os fungos Fusarium sp.; Aspergillus ochraceus Wilhelm.; Aspergillus flavus Link e Aspergillus niger van Tieghem obtidos da micoteca do EcoCentro/EPAMIG em Lavras, MG. O óleo essencial do orégano inibiu o desenvolvimento dos fungos testados em todas as concentrações exceto o fungo A. niger que teve o seu desenvolvimento micelial inibido a partir da concentração de 1000 mg/mL-1,. Os óleos de alecrim, menta, cebola e manjericão tiveram um efeito pronunciado a partir da concentração de 1500 mg/mL-1.The objective of this research was to evaluate "in vitro" effect of essential oils of the condiments, rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L. ), onion (Allium cepa L.), basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), mint (Mentha piperita L.) and oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) about fungi development. The essential oils were extracted by utilizing the vapor "dragging" technique and tested in the concentrations of 500; 1000; 1500 and 2000 mg/mL-1. The fungi Fusarium sp; Aspergillus ochraceus Wilhelm; Aspergillus flavus Link and Aspergillus niger van Tieghemwere obtained from the Fungal Culture Collection, EcoCentro/EPAMIG in Lavras, MG. The essential oil oregano inhibited completely the tested fungi development except the fungus A. niger that had its development inhibited starting from the concentrations of 1000 mg/mL-1. The rosemary, mint, onion and basil oils presented a pronounced effect starting from the concentration of 1500 mg/mL-1

NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non-detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer-reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non-detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio-temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large-scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data