Oyster Mushrooms and the Environment!
Cleaning up oil spills
Oyster mushrooms have been effective in cleaning up oil spills. This is due to their ability to break down hydrocarbons which are the main components of crude oil.
The name of the process is bioremediation (the use of microorganisms to break down pollutants into less harmful substances). In the case of oyster mushrooms, they release an enzyme called lignin peroxidase which is particularly good at breaking down complex hydrocarbons into smaller molecules that can then be metabolised by the mycelium/hyphae.
Once the mushrooms absorb the nutrients, they grow and reproduce, further aiding in the cleanup process.
In one experiment researchers inoculated diesel-contaminated soil with oyster mushrooms and found that they reduced the concentration of toxic hydrocarbons from a dangerous 10,000 parts per million to just 200 parts per million over a 16-week period.
