Search Results (13)

In 1978, the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult released the song “Godzilla” as the first single from the fifth studio album Spectres. Despite not registering on popular charts, it would eventually evolve into an iconic song of its era. “Godzilla” continues to receive airplay on classic rock stations, and it remains a staple of the band’s touring performances. In 2019, a cover of the song, more than forty years after its release, made its film debut in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Though the song is primarily a tribute to the Japanese monster from which it gets its name, “Godzilla” also reflects the nuclear fear and paranoia of the 1970s Cold War era. “Godzilla’s” cultural impact, the song’s lyrics, the Cold War context in which it was written, and its connection to the kaiju films featuring the famous monster are examined. While this is the most popular and well-known song dedicated to Godzilla, it is not the only one. Other compositions have, but they have failed to achieve the iconic status that Blue Öyster Cult’s version has attained. This song has evolved into an unofficial anthem for the great monster. Full article

This research developed shoe soles using a biodegradable and renewable composite made of King Oyster mushroom mycelium. An exploratory approach was used to develop biodegradable shoe prototypes using the mushroom mycelium composite as the midsoles. An online survey was conducted to evaluate the consumer acceptance of the shoe prototypes and a wear test with undergraduate college students was conducted to evaluate the consumer acceptance, wearability, and comfort of the shoe prototype. The survey results indicated that consumers liked the new sustainable footwear and were likely to purchase it. Indian consumers liked the new shoes more and would be more willing to purchase the new shoes than the U.S. consumers. The young age group would be more willing to buy this sustainable shoe prototype than the old age group. The consumers who were frequent consumers of sustainable products, willing to pay more for an environmentally friendly product, and cared about the environment were more likely to purchase this sustainable shoe prototype. The wear test with a small sample of four college students had split opinions on the comfort and wearability of the shoes. Still, all of them liked the concept of shoe materials and biodegradable shoes made from renewable materials. Full article

Ginkgo biloba is widely planted as a colorful foliage tree, and its leaf can be used as a biomass energy source, but it has been underutilized for a long time. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of garden waste as a substrate component in the cultivation process of the king oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii), with the goal of enhancing both the yield of P. eryngii and the efficiency of energy use. The percentages of G. biloba leaf powder in the substrate were 10.5% and 21% to replace sawdust or sugarcane bagasse in a typical substrate. A substrate formulation that could completely replace sawdust and sugarcane bagasse was selected by analyzing mycelial growth rate, days of production, fruiting body length, biological efficiency, yield, stipe thickness, pileus diameter and laccase activity. The results showed that Y1 (treatment with 21% G. biloba leaf powder and sugarcane bagasse) had the highest yield (303.1 ± 31.9 g), which was higher than that of CK (control) (259.3 ± 37.4 g). The crude fiber content of the samples grown on substrate Y1 (as 7.43%) was higher than CK (7.37%). In addition, P. eryngii grown on substrate Y1 had the highest laccase activity for the complete colonization of the mycelium. Thus, these findings suggest that G. biloba leaf powder represents a viable and economical supplement for enhancing both the yield and quality of P. eryngii. Full article

This research aimed to determine the feasibility of using mushrooms as an alternative ingredient in texturized vegetable protein (TVP) production using a single-screw extruder. TVPs from King Oyster (TVP-KO) and Pheonix mushroom (TVP-PH) were successfully developed and characterized. The visual appearance of TVP was reddish-brown, with a distinct roasted mushroom-soybean aroma. When rehydrated and cooked, both TVPs provided a minced meat-like appearance and chewy meat texture comparable to commercial TVP (TVP-Com); however, they had inferior water and oil holding and rehydration capacities. TVPs contained comparable protein content to TVP-Com (45–47 wt%), slightly lower carbohydrate content (33–36 wt% vs. 39 wt%), and ash (3–4 wt% vs. 8 wt%), but higher lipid content (7–8 wt% vs. 0.84 wt%) than TVP-Com. Sai-aua prepared from TVP-KO gained the highest overall acceptability. Mushrooms proved to be a potential source for TVP production due to their availability, low cost, nutritional value, and health benefits. Moreover, this finding helps add value to traditional meat products, which offer an opportunity for developing non-animal products with satisfactory sensory properties and low cost. In addition, the study would provide scientific resources for developing plant-based meat products that address health awareness and economic and environmental sustainability concerns. Full article

The king oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii) is a delicious edible mushroom that is highly prized for its unique flavor and excellent medicinal properties. Its enzymes, phenolic compounds and reactive oxygen species are the keys to its browning and aging and result in its loss of nutrition and flavor. However, there is a lack of reviews on the preservation of Pl. eryngii to summarize and compare different storage and preservation methods. This paper reviews postharvest preservation techniques, including physical and chemical methods, to better understand the mechanisms of browning and the storage effects of different preservation methods, extend the storage life of mushrooms and present future perspectives on technical aspects in the storage and preservation of Pl. eryngii. This will provide important research directions for the processing and product development of this mushroom. Full article

Corn is widely planted in China, but corn stalks have not been adequately utilized for a long time. Here, the potential of corn stalks to serve as an ingredient in the composition of substrates to cultivate king oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii) was studied. Corn stalks were added to the matrix at a ratio of 10.5%, 21%, or 42% to replace sawdust or sugarcane bagasse in the typical matrix. Analysis of the mycelia growth rate, production days, agronomic traits, and nutrient content confirmed the feasibility of using corn stalk instead of sawdust and bagasse for the cultivation of P. eryngii. The samples grown on Y5 (without sawdust and bagasse) has more crude fiber (8.3%) and polysaccharide (5.05%) content compared to those of the control substrate (7.1% and 4.16%, respectively), moreover, it also conteined more zinc and calcium than others. Therefore, these findings indicate that corn stalks could be used as an alternative to sawdust and sugarcane bagasse for P. eryngii production, which would not only reduce costs and improve food quality, but also improve waste utilisation. Full article

Scallop shells are currently a major form of waste generated in the Chinese fishing industry. However, they have the potential to be used as important industrial products. This study was conducted to assess the utility of scallop shell powder (SSP) supplementation in improving the growth of king oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus eryngii) grown on sawdust and sugarcane bagasse substrates. The outcomes of interest included mycelial growth, yield, biological efficiency, fruiting body traits, nutrient supply, and the mineral composition of P. eryngii. Supplementation with SSP accelerated the mycelial growth of P. eryngii. The yield of fruiting bodies (399.5 g/bag) and the biological efficiency (84.6%) were 14% higher after supplementation of the substrate with 2% SSP compared with those of mushrooms grown on substrates not supplemented with SSP (349.8 g/bag and 74.0%, respectively). Moreover, the crude protein and fiber contents of the fruiting bodies significantly improved after growth with SSP. Furthermore, supplementation with 2% SSP increased the calcium (Ca) content of the fruiting bodies of P. eryngii by 64% (to 67.2 ± 15.7 mg kg⁻¹) compared with that of mushrooms grown on a control substrate (41.0 mg kg⁻¹). This study revealed that P. eryngii can efficiently use the Ca provided by raw SSP, generating higher Ca contents in their fruiting bodies. Our results demonstrate that the supplementation of substrates with SSP can be useful for enhancing both the yield and nutritional content of P. eryngii. Full article

Mushroom cultivation generates a large amount of CO₂ that can be used sustainably. The objective of this study was to use actual cultivation and simulation to find a sustainable cultivation method that uses the CO₂ generated by king oyster mushrooms for the production of romaine lettuces. A closed cultivation system consisting of one mushroom chamber, three lettuce chambers, and one gas-mixing chamber was used. Two cultivation conditions, non-continuous and continuous, were analyzed. The non-continuous system cultivated 15 lettuces and 12 mushroom bottles at a time every 25 and 16 days, respectively. The continuous system cultivated three lettuces and mushroom bottles every five and four days, respectively, so that each chamber contained mushrooms or lettuces at each growth stage. The CO₂ concentrations in the lettuce and mushroom chambers were stably maintained above 1000 μmol∙mol⁻¹ and below 2000 μmol∙mol⁻¹ in the continuous system. Mathematical models were developed to analyze the CO₂ concentration in each chamber. The shoot dry weight of lettuces grown in the mixed cultivation were 48.0%, 21.9%, 19.7%, and 18.1% at 10, 15, 20, and 25 days after transplanting, respectively, higher than those in the lettuce-only cultivation. Compared to mushroom-only cultivation, mixed cultivation reduced the accumulated CO₂ emissions into the air by 80.6%. Thus, using CO₂ from mushrooms to cultivate lettuce in a continuous cultivation system could reduce CO₂ emissions into the air and enable mixed cultivation of mushrooms and lettuces, achieving sustainable agriculture. Full article

Mushrooms belonging to Pleurotus genus have been demonstrated to have important nutritional and medicinal value and their regular intake prevent many diseases, reduce the infection probability and increase immunity. In order to investigate the bioactive compounds produced by seven commercial (‘142 F’, ‘142 E’, ‘D+’, ‘V turbo’, ‘V 142’, ‘A 12’, ‘V 160’) and five wild-type (‘Albino 1107’, ‘Altamura 1603’, ‘Muro Lucano 139’, ‘Conversano 1250’, ‘Albino beige chiaro 1094’) P. eryngii isolates, the following qualitative analyses were performed: Total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity (EC₅₀ of ABTS) and antiradical power (ARP) in fresh lyophilized and dry basidioma, and water content, β-glucans and phenolic compounds in fresh samples. Standard methods were employed for each of the above mentioned aims. Total polyphenol content was diverse among the P. eryngii isolates. In particular, an elevated polyphenolic content was found in fresh lyophilized P. eryngii samples of the commercial isolates ‘V 142’ followed by ‘A 12’. The highest antiradical activity (ARP) was obtained by ‘Muro Lucano 139’ isolate. Wild P. eryngii isolates were characterized by higher water and β-glucans contents compared to the commercial ones, and the highest values were registered for the ‘Albino beige chiaro 1094’ isolate. In conclusion, the present study allowed us to identify the commercial and wild-type P. eryngii isolates from the Basilicata region, with high nutritional and medicinal value based on their bioactive compounds. Full article

Ligninolytic enzymes from white-rot fungi, such as laccase (Lac) and Mn-peroxidase (MnP), are able to degrade aflatoxin B₁ (AFB1), the most harmful among the known mycotoxins. The high cost of purification of these enzymes has limited their implementation into practical technologies. Every year, tons of spent mushroom substrate (SMS) are produced as a by-product of edible mushroom cultivation, such as Pleurotus spp., and disposed at a cost for farmers. SMS may still bea source of ligninolytic enzymes useful for AFB1 degradation. The in vitro AFB1-degradative activity of an SMS crude extract (SMSE) was investigated. Results show that: (1) in SMSE, high Lac activity (4 U g⁻¹ dry matter) and low MnP activity (0.4 U g⁻¹ dry matter) were present; (2) after 1 d of incubation at 25 °C, the SMSE was able to degrade more than 50% of AFB1, whereas after 3 and 7 d of incubation, the percentage of degradation reached the values of 75% and 90%, respectively; (3) with increasing pH values, the degradation percentage increased, reaching 90% after 3 d at pH 8. Based on these results, SMS proved to be a suitable source of AFB1 degrading enzymes and the use of SMSE to detoxify AFB1 contaminated commodities appears conceivable. Full article

Hyperlipidemia is a key risk factor in inducing fatty liver, hypertension, atherosclerosis and cerebrovascular diseases. Previous studies have verified that polysaccharides from fruiting bodies (PEPE) of Pleurotus eryngii (king oyster mushroom) are capable of decreasing the lipid content. In this study, the P. eryngii polysaccharide is obtained by solid-state fermentation (PESF) using lignocellulosic wastes, corn-cobs and wheat bran. The high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assays indicate that PESF has a similar composition to that of PEPE. Meanwhile, PESF has no detectable toxicity and is able to significantly inhibit foam-cell formation in murine macrophage cells (RAW264.7) induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein. Further verification indicates that PESF has lipid-lowering effects during the lipid absorption phase in a zebrafish hyperlipidemia model. Our findings suggest that the P. eryngii polysaccharide from solid-state fermentation (PESF) can be used as a valuable lipid-lowering food additive or raw materials for producing lipid-lowering drugs. Full article

Pleurotus is considered an important genus that belongs to the family Pleurotaceae and includes the edible King Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii). In the present study, 19 Pleurotus isolates were collected from two locations in the north of Jordan (Tell ar-Rumman and Um-Qais). The morphological characteristics among collected isolates revealed that there was a morphological similarity among the collected isolates. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1–5.8S rDNA–ITS4 region) and 28S nuclear large subunit (nLSU) in the ribosomal DNA gene of the isolated stains showed that all of them share over 98% sequence similarity with P. eryngii. Genetic diversity among the collected strains was assessed using inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) analysis using 18 different primer pairs. Using this approach, 141 out of 196 bands obtained were considered polymorphic and the highest percentage of polymorphism was observed using primer UBC827 (92.3%) with an overall Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) value of 70.56%. Cluster analysis showed that the Jordanian Pleurotus isolates fall into two main clades with a coefficient of similarity values ranging from 0.59 to 0.74 with a clear clustering based on collection sites. The results of the present study reveal that molecular techniques of ISSR and rDNA sequencing can greatly aid in classification and identification of Pleurotus spp. in Jordan. Full article

This study was conducted to evaluate the calcium (Ca) absorption efficacy of king oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii) grown on sawdust medium supplemented with Ca-sources, including oyster shell powder, and to determine the efficacy of oyster shell powder as a calcium supplement on growth, yield, spawn run and primordial formation of P. eryngii. Optimum calcination of oyster shell powder was achieved at the temperature of 620.56 °C. A 1% supplementation of oyster shell powder in sawdust medium did not suppress the mycelial growth of P. eryngii. Also the supplementation of 2% calcinated oyster shell powder to sawdust medium potentially increased the calcium content up to a level of 315.7 ± 15.7 mg/100 g in the fruiting body of P. eryngii, without extension of duration of spawn run and the retardation of the days to primordial formation. These results suggest that the shellfish by-products, including oyster shell powder, can be utilized to develop calcium enriched king oyster mushrooms. Full article