Comparative study of the growth and yield of Pleurotus florida (oyster mushroom) on some tropical trees.
Otunla C. A., Idowu O. O.
Food 6 : 86-89
Abstract : Chopped stems of four tropical trees namely mango (Mangifera indica), neem (Azadirachta indica), acacia (Acacia species) and coconut (Cocos nucifera) with their mixed bed, as the fifth, were evaluated as substrates for the cultivation of Pleurotus florida, an edible mushroom. Observations were made for the growth and yield parameters of the mushroom namely; number of fruits (NF), fruit weight (FW), width of pileus, length of stipe, biological efficiency (BE) and production efficiency (PE), mycelia extension, days to full colonization, days to initiation and extension per day. The results obtained from this study indicated that the fruit weight (FW) of P. florida (80 g) was highest when cultivated on chopped mango stem. The same trend was observed in BE (46%) and PE (17%). Chopped coconut stem produced the least FW (48 g) and length of stipe (4 cm). Its BE (27%) and PE (11%) were also the least. However, the highest width of pileus (12 cm) was produced by coconut while chopped acacia stem (6 cm) produced the least. The highest mycelia extension (11 cm) was obtained from coconut while the least was from mango. The results obtained indicated that the stem of mango is a suitable substrate for the cultivation of P. florida (Oyster mushroom).