Production of Pelleted Fungal Inocula for Use in Fungal-Based Remediation of Contaminated Soil

Fungal inocula are an important component of a soil bioaugmentation technology that relies on the pollutant-degrading abilities of white-rot wood decay (Bioremedy) fungi. Current inoculum production techniques are expensive and cumbersome. Preliminary work on a less expensive, technically superior inoculum formulation based on a pelleted lignocellulosic-based substrate covered with an active mycelial coat of a selected Bioremedy fungus, indicates that pelleted inocula are effective at supporting fungal colonization and pollutant degradation in soil and that they are potentially much less costly to produce than currently inoculum formulations. Equipment and supplies for three key steps in the pelleted inoculum production process require identification before a realistic economic analysis can be conducted. These steps include: pelleted substrate sterilization, fungal biomass fragmentation to produce hyphal fragments for pellet coating, and appropriate packaging to optimize uniform hyphal coat development on the pellets. The objective of the proposed work is to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of producing pelleted fungal inoculum, at the pilot scale.