Effect of maize residues and sawdust substrates on the growth and yield of oyster mushroom Pleurotus sapidus
Abstract
A. K. Nasir, T. W. Urwa, A. Waqar*, A. Ayesha, A. Awais, A. Asma, K. Babar and M. Shahzad
The cultivation of oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus sapidus) is considered a good environmentally friendly approach for the bio-conservation of agricultural residues into food. Mushroom is a good source of vitamins, amino acids, proteins and also contain less amount of fats cholesterol. P. sapidus is a heterotrophic organism and requires a nutritious substrate for growth. In this study, we evaluate the efficiency of maize residues (stalks, cobs, leaves) along with kikar tree (Vachellia nilotica) sawdust as a substrate on the growth, yield and biological efficiency of P. sapidus. Five treatments were prepared in different proportions, and data was recorded after spawn inoculation to the harvesting of mushrooms using various parameters like; spawn running, pinhead's formation, the number of pinhead's, development of fruiting bodies, yield, and biological efficiency. This study revealed that Treatment-T1 (sawdust 100%) significantly influenced most of the growth parameters compared with other treatments. Similarly, Treatment-T1 (sawdust 100%) produced maximum yield (444 g) and have maximum biological efficiency (88.8%), while Treatment-T5 (maize residues 100%) produced minimum yield (263 g) and have minimum biological efficiency (52.6%). We concluded that kikar tree sawdust is considered a potential substrate for the commercial cultivation of oyster mushrooms (P. spaidus).