Oil palm fruit fibre promotes the yield and quality of Lentinus squarrosulus (Mont.) Singer, an edible Nigerian mushroom

Agricultural production and the agro-food industry furnish large volumes of solid wastes, which when unutilized could lead to environmental pollution. An attempt was made to utilize wastes from the oil palm and timber industries for the cultivation of Lentinus squarrosulus, a Nigerian edible mushroom. Mahogany sawdust (MSD), Gmelina sawdust (GSD), oil palm fruit fibre (OPFF) and oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) significantly influenced crop cycle time, yield, nutritional properties and market quality of the mushroom. The shortest crop cycle time achieved (47 days) was with Gmelina sawdust. Oil palm fruit fibre proved a better substrate for the production of mushrooms with higher yields and protein content (30.10 g/kg substrate and 27.42%). Yield and protein content of harvested mushrooms were strongly correlated with the nitrogen content of the  substrates. Fruit bodies with the lowest fat content were harvested from  Gmelina sawdust. Fat contents of the mushrooms showed a positive and significant correlation with the cellulose content of the waste. Oil palm fruit  fibre yielded the highest quality mushrooms, with 26% in the >7 cm group  while GSD and OPEFB had 0% in the same quality group. Considering the desirable characteristics of yield, protein content and market quality, OPFFproved to be a good substrate which could be exploited for large scale production of L. squarrosulus.Key words: Lentinus squarrosulus, yield, market quality, crop cycle time

Effects of different substrates on the yield and protein content of Pleurotus tuberregium

The effects of seven substrates for the cultivation, yield and protein content of the mushroom, Pleurotus tuberregium (Fries) Singer were investigated. The experimental design used was completely randomized design (CRD) of 7 treatments and 10 replicates. The highest fresh weight yield was obtained from mushrooms grown in river sand and sawdust mixture (T6) while the least was from those grown in top soil mixed with sawdust (T4). Oil palm fruit fibre (OPFF) substrate (T3) produced no fruit bodies at all. Protein analysis of the mushrooms revealed that those grown in river sand alone (T1) had the highest protein content while fruit bodies harvested from sawdust substrate alone (T2) had the least protein content. River sand plus sawdust substrate (T6) is recommended as the best substrate for the production of P. tuberregium in view of the fact that it produced the highest fruit body weight and its protein content was not significantly lower than that of river sand alone (T2)

Effect of Some Phytohormones on Growth Characteristics of Chlorella sorokiniana IAM-C212 under Photoautotrophic Conditions

The effects of some phytohormones [indole acetic acid (IAA), indole butyric acid (IBA), gibelleric acid (GA3), and kinetin] on cell dry weight, cell number, cell size, protein and chlorophyll contents of Chlorella sorokiniana IAM-C212 were investigated under photoautotrophic conditions. Treatment with IAA (15 mg/l) and IBA (15 mg/l) resulted in significantly higher dry cell weight and cell number than the control (P < 0.05) but there were no significant effects of GA3 and kinetin on cell growth as expressed by dry cell concentration (g/l) and cell population (cells/ml). Treatment with IAA at a concentration of 10 or 15 mg/l gave the highest cell dry concentration of 4.68 g/l after eight days of cultivation, which is more than 9 times higher than the value obtained in the control culture (without phytohormone). The optimum concentration of each of the phytohormones for C. sorokiniana cell enlargement was 20 mg/l. At this concentration, the average cell sizes were 81.07, 78.67, 78.07, 66.90 and 68.1 μm for GA3, kinetin, IAA, IBA and control, respectively. Addition of 15 mg/l of IAA or GA3 to the culture resulted in significantly higher extractable chlorophyll contents than the control (P < 0.05) but the effects of IBA and kinetin were not significant (P > 0.05). The protein contents of the cells cultivated with 20 or 10 mg/l of GA3, 15 mg/l of kinetin, and 15 mg/l of IBA or IAA were 46.64, 45.83 and 45.81%, respectively. In the control experiment, the protein content was 43.38% after eight days of cultivation, showing that treatment with these phytohormones had no significant effect on the protein contents of the cells (P > 0.05). Combination of IBA and GA3 exhibited synergistic effect on growth and productivity of C. sorokiniana but there was no synergistic effect when IAA was combined with either GA3 or kinetin.Keywords: Phytohormones, Chlorella sorokiniana, Cell Growth, Cell Size, Protein Content, Chlorophyll Conten

Evaluation of some organic substrates for the growth and yield of oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.Fr.) Kumm in southeast Nigeria

Four organic substrates; Mahogany Sawdust (MSD), Corn Cobs (CC), Oil Palm Fruit Fibre (OPFF) and Rice Bran (RB) were evaluated for their effects on growth and yield of Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.Fr.) Kumm. The completely randomized experimental design was adopted for the study with 4 treatments replicated 10 times. Results on mean number of days for spawn run, primordial formation and formation of fruit body were 19.90±0.28(CC)-25.20±0.29(MSD), 45.10±0.28(CC)-47.90±0.23(MSD) and 56.50±0.22(CC)-59.40±0.27(MSD), respectively. Similarly, height of stipe, diameter of stipe and diameter of pileus ranges were 3.28±0.13 (MSD)-3.51±0.06 (RB),1.26±0.06 (OPFF)-1.39±0.05(RB) and 4.08±0.05(CC)-4.70±0.04(OPFF), respectively. Fresh weights (g), dry weights (g) and biological efficiency were 10.20±0.31(OPFF)-11.05±0.14(MSD), 3.18±0.15(CC)-3.38±0.13(RB) and 4.14±0.14 (OPPF)-4.42±0.06(MSD), respectively. Results on mushroom growth showed that CC took the least duration for full mycelial colonization and the longest duration occurred on MSD. There were significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) between the durations required for primordia formation among the four organic substrates. The results on mushroom yield showed that mean fresh weights of harvested mushrooms varied from 10.20±0.31 g on OPFF to 11.05±0.14 g on MSD. There were no significant differences (P ≥ 0.05) in the biological efficiency of mushrooms grown on MSD, CC and OPFF substrates. Considering the growth and yield attributes RB was observed to be the best substrate and could be used for commercial production of P. ostreatus among the various organic substrates used in this study

Performance of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) in different local agricultural waste materials

The present study was conducted to evaluate different substrates for establishment of yield performance of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). The substrates were prepared from single or mixture of different agricultural waste materials supplemented with lime and water as additive to each substrate. A total of eight substrates labeled 1 to 8 were prepared. Substrate 4, which is a mixture of palm kernel cake and maize cob, had the highest mycelia growth rate (80%), sprouted 15 days after inoculation and yielded the highest total fresh weight for a period of 10 harvests (2957.5 g). Substrate 3, a mixture of palm kernel cake and sawdust, had 78% mycelia growth rate, sprouted 16 days after inoculation and yielded 2535.7 g fresh mushroom. Substrate 2 is a mixture of maize straw and sawdust and had 75% mycelia growth rate, sprouted 17 days after inoculation and a total of 2207.4 g fresh weight. The mushroom grown in substrates 4, 3 and 2 produced bigger and firmer fruiting bodies, which differed significantly (P < 0.05) from the other substrates. Substrates 1 and 5 which had 50% mycelia growth rate, sprouted 31 and 33 days after inoculation and 1408.8 and 1092.6 g, respectively, were recorded after a period of 10 harvests. Substrate 4, 3 or 2 is therefore recommended for cultivation of oyster mushroom.Keywords: Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus), mycelial growth, palm kernel cake (PKC), substrate, maturit

Effects Of Different Substrates On The Yield And Nutritional Value Of Pleurotus Tuberregium (Fr.) Sing

Two experiments were conducted to study the effects of different substrates on the yield and nutritional content of Pleurotus tuberregium (Fr.) Sing. Seven different substrates were used in both experiments to grow the mushrooms and sclerotia, respectively. The experiments were carried out using a completely randomized design (CRD). Fresh and dry weights of the harvested mushrooms and sclerotia were recorded and the proximate analysis of the mushrooms conducted using Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC’s) methods. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for data analysis and test of significance carried out by the Duncan’s multiple range test. Results of the mushroom cultivation experiment showed that mean dry weights varied from 0.22 g for mixture of topsoil and fermented sawdust substrate (M5) to 3.34 g for mixture of river sand and fermented sawdust substrate (M7), while the mean fresh weights varied from 1.42 g for M5 to 13.76 g for M7. The mean fresh weights of M2, M3 and M7 were not significantly different from one another but were significantly different from those of M4 and M5. Furthermore, percentage carbohydrate content ranged from 59.03% in M1 to 65.41% in M2 while that of crude protein varied from 14.88% in M3 to 17.78% in M1. For the second experiment, the rate of substrate colonization differed significantly (P≤ 0.05) for the treatments. The mean colonization rate varied from 0.0 day in S2, S3 to 31.2 days in S5, S4 and S6, which were not significantly different from each other but were significantly different from S1, S5 and S7 and from S2 and S3. The mean dry weight yield varied from 46.26 g in S5 to 127.48 g in S1. The biological efficiency of sclerotia harvested from S1, S6 and S7 were not significantly different from one another but were significantly different from those of S4 and S5 substrates. Considering all the parameters investigated; a mixture of river sand and fermented sawdust substrate (M7) is recommended as the best substrate for the cultivation of P. tuberregium mushrooms while a mixture of corn waste and fermented sawdust substrate (S6) is recommended for sclerotial cultivation. Mushrooms grown on topsoil substrate (M1) are recommended as the best for nutritional supplement

Fungi in Soils Cultivated with Rice( Oryza sativa Linn) in Rotation with Tuber Crops

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