Recently, the cultivation of hazel is undergoing a large expansion. Italy is the world’s second largest producer of hazelnuts, with a production of around 98,530 tons in 2019. The processing of hazelnuts produces large amounts of waste, especially woody pericarps, due to the cracking process, generally used for domestic heating, causing air pollution. The high lignin content present in the pericarps makes them a suitable substrate for the cultivation of edible and medicinal mushrooms. To this aim, Ganoderma lucidum, Lentinula edodes, and Pleurotus cornucopiae were grown and cultivated on different hazelnut-shell-based substrates: Hazelnut Shell (HS), Hazelnut Shell and Wheat Straw (HS-WS), and Wheat Straw mixed with Beech Chips (WS-BC) as control. In vitro mycelial grow rate, the degradation capacity of the lignocellulosic fraction, the biological efficiency, and the qualitative differences between mushrooms growing on different substrates by using Attenuated Total Reflectance–Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy were investigated. Our results suggested the ability of G. lucidum, L. edodes, and P. cornucopiae to grow and decay the lignocellulosic fraction of HS. Cultivation trials showed a similar biological efficiency but a different Fruiting Body Production (FBP) in the presence of HS with respect to the control. ATR-FTIR analysis provided a chemical insight for the examined fruiting bodies, and differences were found among the substrates studied. These results provide attractive perspectives both for more sustainable management and for the improvement of mushroom cultivation efficiency.

Summary: Tuber borchii (the Bianchetto truffle) is a heterothallic Ascomycete living in symbiotic association with trees and shrubs. Maternal and paternal genotype dynamics have already been studied for the black truffles Tuber melanosporum and Tuber aestivum but not yet for T. borchii . In this study, we analysed maternal and paternal genotypes in the first truffle orchard realized with plants inoculated with five different T. borchii mycelia. Our aims were to test the persistence of the inoculated mycelia, if maternal and/or paternal genotypes correspond to inoculated mycelia and to assess the hermaphroditism of T. borchii . The mating type of each isolate as well as those of mycorrhizas, ascomata and extraradical soil mycelia was determined. Moreover, simple sequence repeat (SSR) profiles of maternal and paternal genotypes were assessed in 18 fruiting bodies to investigate the sexual behaviour of this truffle. The maternal genotypes of the fruiting bodies corresponded to those of the inoculated mycelia with only two exceptions. This confirmed that the inoculated mycelia persisted 9 years after plantation. As regards paternal partner, only two had the same genotype as those of the inoculated mycelia, suggesting hermaphroditism. Most of the new paternal genotypes originated from a recombination of those of inoculated mycelia.

Background: Plastic is one of the most widely used materials worldwide in various fields, including packaging and agriculture. Its large quantities require proper disposal and for this reason more and more attention is paid to the issue of degrading plastic. Thanks to the production of non-specific enzymes, fungi are able to attack complex and recalcitrant xenobiotics such as plastics. In recent years, several spectroscopic methods were used to study the plastic degradation ability of different fungal species. Among these, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and FT-Raman spectroscopy techniques are the most used. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy is a powerful technique which uses metal nanoparticles (NPs) to enhance the Raman signal of molecules adsorbed on the NPs surface. In this work, the isolation of different fungi from field-collected plastic debris and the ability of these isolates to growth and colonizing the low-density polyethylene (LDPE) were explored by using scanning electron microscope (SEM), attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) and SERS spectroscopies. Results: Forty-seven fungal isolates belonging to 10 genera were obtained; among them only 11 were able to grow and colonize the LDPE film. However, after 90 days trial, only one isolate of Cladosporium cladosporioides (Clc/1) was able to carry out the initial degradation of the LDPE film. In particular, based on SEM observations, small cavities and depressed areas of circular shape were visible in the treated samples. Additionally, ATR-FTIR, normal Raman and SERS analyses supported the structural changes observed via SEM. Notably, ATR-FTIR and normal Raman spectra showed a significant decrease in the relative intensity of the methylene group bands. Similarly, the SERS spectra of LDPE after the fungal attack, confirmed the decrease of methylene groups bands and the appearance of other bands referring to LDPE polyphenolic admixtures. Conclusions: These results suggest that Cladosporium cladosporioides Clc/1 is able to carry out an initial degradation of LDPE. Moreover, combining ATR-FTIR, Raman and SERS spectroscopies with SEM observations, the early stages of LDPE degradation can be explored without any sample pretreatment. Graphical

The current management practice of digestate from biogas plants involves its use for land application as a fertilizer. Nevertheless, the inadequate handling of digestate may cause environmental risks due to losses of ammonia, methane and nitrous oxide. Therefore, the key goals of digestate management are to maximize its value by developing new digestate products, reducing its dependency on soil application and the consequent air pollution. The high nitrogen and lignin content in solid digestate make it a suitable substrate for edible and medicinal mushroom cultivation. To this aim, the mycelial growth rate and degradation capacity of the lignocellulosic component from corn silage digestate, undigested wheat straw and their mixture were investigated on Cyclocybe aegerita, Coprinus comatus, Morchella importuna, Pleurotus cornucopiae and Pleurotus ostreatus. The structural modification of the substrates was performed by using attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Preliminary in vitro results demonstrated the ability of P. ostreatus, P. cornucopiae and M. importuna to grow and decay hemicellulose and lignin of digestate. Cultivation trials were carried out on C. aegerita, P. cornucopiae and P. ostreatus. Pleurotus ostreatus showed the highest biological efficiency and fruiting body production in the presence of the digestate; moreover, P. ostreatus and P. cornucopiae were able to degrade the lignin. These results provide attractive perspectives both for more sustainable digestate management and for the improvement of mushroom cultivation efficiency.

Background: Mushrooms have always been considered an important source of food and biologically active compounds with several medicinal properties. In recent years, different methods were used to study the quality and chemical composition of mushrooms. Among these, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and FT-Raman spectroscopy techniques have been successfully applied to identify different mushroom species. However, the structural biomolecule components existing in the mycelium or in the fruiting bodies may produce strong fluorescence emission that overlaps the Raman radiation, thus avoiding their analyses by Raman. SERS spectroscopy is a powerful technique which uses metal nanoparticles (NPs) to enhance the Raman signal of molecules adsorbed on the NPs surface. In addition, SERS is able to quench the macromolecule florescence. In this work, we have employed silver nanoparticles in order to get mushroom fingerprints based on SERS as quick procedure to analyze and identify different chemical compounds from the fruiting bodies of six edible and/or medicinal mushrooms: Lentinula edodes, Ganoderma lucidum, Pleurotus cornucopiae, Pleurotus ostreatus, Tuber aestivum and Tuber magnatum. Results: SERS analyses performed directly on fruiting body fragments produced characteristic spectra for each species. One group of mushrooms (L. edodes, G. lucidum, T. aestivum and T. magnatum) was dominated by the bands of nucleic acids; and the other one (P. cornucopiae and P. ostreatus), by the bands of pigments such as melanins; carotenoids; azafilones; polyketides; and flavonoids located in the cell wall. Additionally, bands corresponding to cell wall polysaccharides, particularly chitosan and 1,3-β D-glucan, were identified in the extracts of P. cornucopiae, P. ostreatus and L. edodes. No signal of cell wall polysaccharides was found in G. lucidum extract. Raman mapping of the analyzed samples was useful in tracking the spatial distribution of the marker bands. Moreover, the principal component analysis (PCA) carried out on the acquired SERS spectra, allows to discriminate the analyzed mushroom species. Conclusions: The SERS technique has the ability to generate a strong Raman signal from mushroom fruiting bodies using Ag-NPs deposited directly on intact, untreated mushroom tissues. Using this methodology, commonly applied laboratory time-consuming methods can be avoided or bypassed as well as analysis time can be reduced. Graphical