Comparative Study on the Growth and Yield of Pleurotus Ostreatus Mushroom on Lignocellulosic by- Products

The edible mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus has been studied as a potential crop to reduce agricultural solid wastes and increase mushroom production. P. ostreatus cultivated on various agricultural wastes singly i.e. rice straw (RS), rice husk (RH) wheat straw (WH), barley straw (BS), and cotton wastes (CW). The biological efficiency (B.E) was 25.61, 9.51, 22.6, 21.628 and 25.78 % while rounding up the total weight of fruit yield 1.0 kg substrate was 258.04, 125.0, 226.0, 198.0 and 257.0 gms (on fresh wt. Basis), when grown on RS,RH,WS,BS and CW. The percentage of biomass loss from each substrate was 29.79, 16.89, 38.023, 30.0 and 33.40 %. Respectively, all the aforementioned wastes treated with P. ostreatus exhibited losses primarily in cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and fiber components after the harvest of P. ostreatus. The crude and soluble protein contents were enhanced by the incubation of the mushroom probably due to the addition of microbial protein. The losses of lignin and cellulose were higher in RS followed by CW, WS, and BS. Treated agro wastes with 1.25 % acid and base enhanced biodegradation ability and mycelial growth of the mushroom. Comparatively, loss of lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose and crude fiber is higher in treated then the untreated substrates. Similarly by the addition of chickpea powder as nitrogen source improved the growth pattern and metabolic activity of the P. ostreatus. Keyword: Agricultural wastes, Pleurotus ostreatus, nitrogen source, Biodegradation.