Post-Catastrophic Food Resilience: the Potential for Growing Fungi on Lignocellulosic Biomass as an Enzymatic Hydrolysis Pretreatment and as a Source of Human Nutrition
Open Access
Author:
Klatte, Hannah
Area of Honors:
Biology
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Charles T Anderson, Thesis Supervisor Daniel J Cosgrove, Thesis Honors Advisor
In the case of a natural or man-made global catastrophe such as an asteroid strike, supervolcano eruption, or nuclear winter, agricultural disruption in the aftermath of the disaster could have as large of a global human cost as the event itself. In this project, we attempted to find creative ways to address global food scarcity by exploring the use of a universally acquirable material: inedible lignocellulosic plant material. We tapped into the nutritional potential of a complex polysaccharide-rich plant substrate, shrub willow (Salix sp), using a pretreatment of two white-rot fungi strains, Pleurotus ostreatus and Lentinula edodes, in combination with an enzymatic hydrolysis treatment. We compared the changes in biochemical composition of our lignocellulosic substrate that occurred throughout the fungal incubation period to the nutritional value and yield of edible products obtained from enzymatic hydrolysis and from fungal fruiting bodies. In this Honors Thesis, we suggest a pretreatment strategy that can be used to maximize the transformation of woody biomass into a potential caloric source for emergency human consumption.
