Assessment of Gardening Wastes as a Co-Substrate for Diapers Degradation by the Fungus Pleurotus ostreatus

Sustainability

Rosa Mar໚ Espinosa-Valdemar²  Alethia Vázquez-Morillas²  Sara Ojeda-Benítez¹  Gabriela Arango-Escorcia²  Sonia Cabrera-Elizalde²  Xochitl Quecholac-Pi༚²  Maribel Velasco-Pérez²  Perla X. Sotelo-Navarro² 

[1] Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Campus Mexicali, Calle de la normal s/n y Boulevard Benito Juárez, Col. Insurgentes Este, Mexicali, Baja California C.P. 21280, Mexico; E-Mail:;Departamento de Energía, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Azcapotzalco, Avenida San Pablo No 180, Col. Reynosa Tamaulipas, Delegación Azcapotzalco, Distrito Federal C.P. 02200, Mexico; E-Mails:

关键词: biomass;    biodegradation;    cellulose;    biological efficiency;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su7056033

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Waste with high biomass content generated in cities in developing countries is sent to landfills or open dumps. This research aims to degrade biomass content in urban waste through cultivation, at pilot scale, of the edible mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus. First, the number of diapers used by one baby per week was measured with a survey in day care facilities. Then, cellulose content of diapers was assessed. Finally, cultivation of P. ostreatus was carried out using as substrate a mixture of diapers with gardening waste, a co-substrate readily available at urban settings. The factors assessed were strain of P. ostreatus (grey BPR-81, white BPR-5), conditioning of the substrate (diapers with and without plastic) and co-substrate (wheat straw, grass, and withered leaves). Results show that diapers are a valuable source of biomass, as generation of diapers with urine is 15.3 kg/child/month and they contain 50.2% by weight of cellulose. The highest reductions in dry weight and volume (>64%) of substrates was achieved with the substrate diaper without plastic and co-substrate wheat straw. Although diapers with plastic and grass and leaves showed lower degradation, they achieved efficiencies that make them suitable as a co-substrate (>40%), considering that their biomass is currently confined in landfills.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.