Yield evaluation of <i>Pleurotus florida</i> on selected wood waste of five economic trees

Abstract

The potential of five different wood wastes in the cultivation of Pleurotus florida was evaluated in this study. Hundred grams each,of different wood wastes of Triplochiton sclewxylon, Croton lobatus, Gmelina arborea, Mitagyna stipulosa and Sclerocarya birrea were weighed into uniform sized screw capped bottles in triplicates, and then inoculated with 10g of P. florida spawn. The experimental bottles were incubated at 30}2‹C for six weeks.
Mushroom yield and proximate contents of the fruit bodies were  determined. Results showed that fruit body production was initiated three days after the incubation period during exposure to air. T. sclewxylon induced the highest mycelia growth and M. stipulosa the least. A significant difference in mushroom yield was observed for this study (P . 0.05). T. sclewxylon influenced the highest mushroom yield while least mushroom yield was influenced by M. stipulosa. Proximate content analysis revealed that G. arborea produced the highest percentage of crude protein (24.20% } 0.024), fat (9.77% } 0.004) and C. lobatus the least percentage of ash (9.07% } 0.004), crude protein (20.81% } 0.009), fat (8.35% } 0.004) and crude fiber (17.14% } 0.004). Mineral contents were observed in the substrates in varying degrees. This study revealed that P. florida can be cultured on readily available lignocellulosic wastes, among which T. sclewxylon was found to be the most suitable substrate as it supported the
highest yield of mushroom fruit bodies.

Keywords: Pleurotus florida, Triplochiton sclewxylon, Croton lobatus, Gmelina arborea, Mitagyna stipulosa and Sclerocarya birrea, wood waste