Spawn production and cultivation of Pleurotus tuber-regium on agricultural wastes

Abstract

Spawn of Pleurotus tuber-regium an edible Nigerian mushroom was prepared.  It was tested for growth on four organic wastes viz. rice straw, tea leaves, cocoa pods and sawdust.  The wastes were supplemented with 10% rice bran.  Two types of fruiting bodies were observed, the open and the unopen fruiting bodies.  Tea leaves gave the unopen type while sawdust, rice straw, rice straw plus additive gave the open type which is preferred.  The yield of 31.4g, 50.0g, 80.0g, 126.0g and 136.6g of Pleurotus tuber-regium per kilogramme were harvested on sawdust, tea leaves plus additive, tea leaves, rice straw and rice straw plus additive respectively.