Utilizing Agro-waste for the Cultivation of Edible Mushrooms and the Recovery of Chitosan and Bioactive Enzymes

Background: Fungal-derived chitosan and cellulase are increasingly explored as vegan, allergen-free alternatives to crustacean-sourced biopolymers and industrial enzymes, yet most studies on sugarcane-bagasse-based Pleurotus cultivation report either mushroom yield or by-product recovery in isolation. This study evaluates a two-step bioconversion process for sugarcane bagasse that recovers cellulase and chitosan, along with the edible fruiting body, from a single cultivation cycle. Methods: Fungi (Pleurotus ostreatus) were cultivated under controlled conditions on enriched sugarcane bagasse. Harvested biomass was used to isolate cellulase and residual biomass was processed for chitosan extraction and recovery via acid/base treatment. Cellulase was assayed using the Congo red polysaccharide assay and the 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid (DNSA) assay. Chitosan was estimated using the fourier transform infrared (FTIR) technique. Result: The fresh yield of Pleurotus mushroom ranged from 650-800 g/kg of dry substrate, which resulted in a biological efficiency of 75-80%. The cellulase activity of the crude, unconcentrated extract was 0.005 U/mL. The residual fungal biomass yielded chitosan at 1-2% of residual biomass dry weight, confirmed by FTIR.