ABSTRACT The accumulation of plastic materials leads to serious environmental issues as these materials degrade at a very slow rate. Many approaches have been proposed to reduce the plastic materials, including ways to increase the rate of the degradation process. In this study, mycoremediation of plastic material using commonly available edible mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus abalones and Agaricus bisporus) is investigated. The mushrooms were grown in optimized salinity and temperature with two plastics materials -polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene (PE); both served as their sole carbon sources. The changes in laccase activity and biomass were determined after 7 days of incubation. The results showed the presence of laccase activity and growth in biomass, indicating that degradation of plastic materials had taken place. The results showed that P. ostreatus, P. abalones and A. bisporus were able to utilize PS and PE as carbon sources. Among all three mushrooms, A. bisporus was found to be the best candidate to be used in the degradation of PS and PE.
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