Colonization of crop residues by white-rot fungi: cell wall monosaccharides, phenolic acids, ruminal fermentation characteristics and digestibility of cell wall fiber components in vitro

Objectives were to evaluate the effect of fungal treatment on monomers of structural carbohydrates, major cell wall phenolic acids and ruminal fermentability in vitro during small and large scale treatment process. Samples from two previously conducted experiments were used in the present study as follows: Samples from botanical fractions (leaf and stem) of rice straw colonized by Cyathus stercoreus (Cs), Phanerochaete chrysosporium (Pc) and Pleurotus sajorcaju (Ps) were evaluated for in vitro fermentation characteristics, in vitro digestibility (IVD) of cell wall fiber constituents and changes in cell wall phenolic acids (PA) and monosaccharides. The same analyses were repeated for the second set of samples obtained from a large scale trial where rice straw was decayed with Cs in 5 kg batches. The effect of processing of straw, straw pre-soaked in water to achieve 80% moisture, also compared with unprocessed rice straw which served as a positive control.