Henk Monster / Wikimedia commonsPleurotus pulmonaryius, the Indian oyster mushroom, grew on brewer’s spent grainHenk Monster / Wikimedia commons
A mixture of sawdust and grains used to manufacture craft beer were used to nourish the edible mushroom Pleurotus pulmonaryius, commonly known as the Indian oyster. The scientists in Argentina who developed the process reported that they were able to double mushroom yield by reusing brewer’s spent grain. “This technology is currently being used by the company Mycelio.Bio, who we advise as part of a consulting agreement,” Edgardo Albertó, director of the Mycology and Cultivation Laboratory for Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms at the Chascomús Technological Institute, said in a statement released by the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET). His team also used the brewer’s spent grain, which includes hops and yeast, to feed a semicontinuous digester that produces a biogas composed of methane and carbon dioxide. The yield of 265 liters of methane per kilogram of solid waste was greater than that obtained from the mushroom substrate. “It is a considerable amount of biogas that could be used to produce electricity or simply as fuel,” highlighted Albertó (CONICET Newsletter, April 5; Waste and Biomass Valorization, May).
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