Food waste to biomass approach: A sustainable strategy for the production of alternative microbial culture media for filamentous fungi growth
10 affiliations
- 1Department of Food Sciences, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, Abdelhamid Ben Badis University, Mostaganem, Algeria.
- 2Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Life, University of Relizane, Relizane, Algeria.
- 3Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Life, Djillali Liabes University, Sidi Bel Abbés, Algeria.
- 4Department of Ecology and Environment, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Life, University of Relizane, Relizane, Algeria.
- 5Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
- 6Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Sciences, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
- 7Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
- 8Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
- 9Department of Food and Nutrition, Faculty of Human Sciences and Design, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
- 10Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract
The valorization of organic waste is still one of the challenges in the path towards environmental sustainability and a circular bioeconomy. This research aimed at assessing the ability of three substrates of organic residues (olive pomace, potato peels and the green seaweed Ulva lactuca) to be used as alternative culture media for filamentous fungi. Mycelial growth on these media was compared with the conventional Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and Sabouraud media using three fungal species namely Fusarium oxysporum (F1), Fusarium solani (F2) and Alternaria alternata (N2) as biological models. The alternative media were made from waste materials, supplemented or not with glucose, and sterilized prior to the use. The measurements of mycelial growth were taken every day for 8 days and the data analyzed by multi-factorial ANOVA. Mycelial growth in all the waste-based media was found to be comparable to commercial media. Highest overall growth was seen in commercial PDA and Sabouraud media (19.9% and 19.3%) respectively. The glucose enriched formulations showed 13.2% (olive pomace) and 11.0% (potato peel) rich media with the remaining media showing less. The percentages of olive pomace, potato peels and U. lactuca were 12.9%, 9.3% and 1.2%, respectively, without the addition of glucose. Growth was significantly higher with glucose supplementation, showing the beneficial effect of the exogenous C supply and intrinsic nutritional value of the substrates. ANOVA revealed that incubation time and medium type significantly influenced mycelial growth across all three strains (p < 2.2 × 10−16), with significant interactions between medium and time (F1: F = 3.91, p = 6.08 × 10−10, F2: F = 163.31, p < 2 × 10−16, N2: F = 44.30, p < 2 × 10−16). The overall analysis of the three strains also indicated highly significant main effect for strain (F = 645.22) and incubation time (F = 391.95) as well as highly significant main effect for culture medium (F = 44.18) (all p < 2.2 × 10−16). Variations in texture and color that can be seen in the different media, however, may influence the macroscopic appearance of the mycelium and identification. Hence, these alternative media are recommended for post identification, subculture and preservation of fungal strains especially.
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BibTeX
@article{cherrad2026food,
title = {{Food waste to biomass approach: A sustainable strategy for the production of alternative microbial culture media for filamentous fungi growth}},
author = {Hayet Cherrad and Soraya Djebara and Fatima Zohra El Kadi and Abdesselem Si Mohammed and Ahmed Megharbi and Rania Soumia Zellit and Mahmoud Helal and Rokayya Sami and Ola Abu Ali and Amal F Alqurashi and Eman A Abduljawad and Amera N Alqahtani},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0360680},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360680},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Food waste to biomass approach: A sustainable strategy for the production of alternative microbial culture media for filamentous fungi growth
AU - Hayet Cherrad
AU - Soraya Djebara
AU - Fatima Zohra El Kadi
AU - Abdesselem Si Mohammed
AU - Ahmed Megharbi
AU - Rania Soumia Zellit
AU - Mahmoud Helal
AU - Rokayya Sami
AU - Ola Abu Ali
AU - Amal F Alqurashi
AU - Eman A Abduljawad
AU - Amera N Alqahtani
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0360680
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360680
AB - The valorization of organic waste is still one of the challenges in the path towards environmental sustainability and a circular bioeconomy. This research aimed at assessing the ability of three substrates of organic residues (olive pomace, potato peels and the green seaweed Ulva lactuca) to be used as alternative culture media for filamentous fungi. Mycelial growth on these media was compared with the conventional Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and Sabouraud media using three fungal species namely Fusarium oxysporum (F1), Fusarium solani (F2) and Alternaria alternata (N2) as biological models. The alternative media were made from waste materials, supplemented or not with glucose, and sterilized prior to the use. The measurements of mycelial growth were taken every day for 8 days and the data analyzed by multi-factorial ANOVA. Mycelial growth in all the waste-based media was found to be comparable to commercial media. Highest overall growth was seen in commercial PDA and Sabouraud media (19.9% and 19.3%) respectively. The glucose enriched formulations showed 13.2% (olive pomace) and 11.0% (potato peel) rich media with the remaining media showing less. The percentages of olive pomace, potato peels and U. lactuca were 12.9%, 9.3% and 1.2%, respectively, without the addition of glucose. Growth was significantly higher with glucose supplementation, showing the beneficial effect of the exogenous C supply and intrinsic nutritional value of the substrates. ANOVA revealed that incubation time and medium type significantly influenced mycelial growth across all three strains (p < 2.2 × 10−16), with significant interactions between medium and time (F1: F = 3.91, p = 6.08 × 10−10, F2: F = 163.31, p < 2 × 10−16, N2: F = 44.30, p < 2 × 10−16). The overall analysis of the three strains also indicated highly significant main effect for strain (F = 645.22) and incubation time (F = 391.95) as well as highly significant main effect for culture medium (F = 44.18) (all p < 2.2 × 10−16). Variations in texture and color that can be seen in the different media, however, may influence the macroscopic appearance of the mycelium and identification. Hence, these alternative media are recommended for post identification, subculture and preservation of fungal strains especially.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -