APPLICATION OF BIO-SPECKLES FORDETECTION OF BIODEGRADATION OF PLASTIC POLYMERS BY THE BASIDIOMYCETOUS MUSHROOM HERICIUM ERINACEUS

The wastes of solids like plastic form a huge pollutionproblem in the environment. Thus, this study is concerned about the use of fungi for biodegradation of plastic. The biodegradationcapability was assessed by growing Hericiumerinaceus mushroom on different types of plasticpolymer. The laser speckle measurements can detect the polymer degradation optically. This is done, when a coherent light is allowed to be incident on bio samples surfaces, such surfaces are considered optically rough. The scattered light centers from these surfaces represented the growth of Hericiumerinaceusfungus on polymer sample. These scattering lights are coherent with respect to each other, leading to a precisefringprint of these biological tissues. The scattered light presented a particular intensity distribution, forming bio speckle. Digital images were taken, then by image processing, intensityand contrast were calculated for each bio sample.