Disease resistance and growth promotion activities of chitin/cellulose nanofiber from spent mushroom substrate to plant
Hujun Li, Saori Yoshida, Naofumi Mitani, Mayumi Egusa, Momoko Takagi, Hironori Izawa, Teruyuki Matsumoto, Hironori Kaminaka, Shinsuke Ifuku
Abstract
Some studies have reported the method for treating the spent mushroom substrate (SMS). However, the effective use as a functional raw material based on properties of SMS remains a formidable challenge. In this study, we investigated the usefulness of SMS in agriculture to develop a new method for treating and utilizing it. First, we attempted to isolate chitin/cellulose nanofiber complex (CCNFC) from SMS using chemical pretreatment and mechanical fibrillation. The characterization results like SEM, FT-IR, and XRD showed that we successfully isolated the CCNFC from SMS. Second, we explored the biological activities of the CCNFC for its potential application as a functional agricultural nanomaterial. CCNFC water dispersion with low concentration (0.1 and 1 mg/mL) exhibited significant plant disease resistance and plant growth promotion activities. Our results suggested that SMS may provide a useful source of functional agricultural nanomaterial, which may contribute to treating and applying it in agriculture.