Addition of molasses, corn steep liquor, and rice polish as economical sources to enhance the fungal biomass production of wheat straw by Arachniotus sp.

This study was planned to see the additive effects of various industrial residues including molasses, rice polish, and corn steep liquor for the bioprocessing of wheat straw (WS) through solid-state fermentation (SSF) using Arachniotus sp. as a fermenting agent. The performance of fungal-based WS (seed culture) was evaluated in terms of the favorable changes in crude protein (CP) contents. WS (5 g) was mixed with our selected carbon and nitrogen sources in a basal medium containing optimized salt concentrations to attain the desired level of water and nutrients. An increased (P < 0.0001) CP value was observed at a 25:1 C:N ratio and maximum fungal protein contents (13.40%) were found by mixing 0.4 mL of molasses, 0.8 g of rice polish, and 3.0 mL of corn steep liquor in treated WS at a setting time of 48 h in SSF. It was seen that the growth rate of Arachniotus sp. was greatly improved by the addition of our selected amounts of carbohydrate and nitrogen sources. Hence, our current results support the use of these economical byproducts for cheap biomass production.