2.3. Substrate preparation
Straws of rice, wheat, and barley were obtained from
Talesh region of Gilan Province, Iran and transferred to
the Chuka Wood and Paper Industries, Gilan, Iran. The
straws were dried and manually chopped to pieces of 0.5–
2.0 cm. The moisture, organic and inorganic material contents
of the straws were determined in percent of dry weight
basis. The results obtained were as follows: Rice, 7.70,
86.86 and 13.14; wheat, 15.00, 92.71 and 7.29 and barley,
22.20, 92.71 and 7.29, respectively.