Lathyrus sativus (Khesari plant) and sugarcane bagasse are considered as agro wastes. Khesari plants are generally grown in fields as weeds and they have to be removed prior to cultivation. Taking this view in mind, we have investigated the conversion of these lignocellulosic agro-waste as an enriched feed stock for cattle via by solid state fermentation using a cellulolytic fungus, Pleurotus sajor-caju. The strain required 8 weeks to complete the fermentation on both the untreated and treated (with alkali, lime and presoaked) substrates at 30°C. Higher amounts of reducing sugar and soluble protein were found in each of the lime treated substrates than untreated substrates.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 06:07:35 +0000