Straw Enrichment for Fodder Production by Fungi

Abstract

Straw (wheat, barley, oat, rye, rice) represents the main agricultural crop residue in the world and botanically belongs to the Graminae family. Cereal straws are lignocelullosic material rich in energy, low in crude protein and poor in palatability. One characteristic of straw is that it mainly consists of 60--70{\%} carbohydrates (Jackson 1977). Lignin complexed with cellulose and hemicellulose makes the carbohydrates of straw less accessible to microbial attack in the rumen. Lignin acts as a barrier to the utilization of structural carbohydrates. Considering the quantitative importance of these crop residues, considerable efforts have been made to upgrade their nutritive value (Flachowsky et al. 1999).