Cultivation of Pleurotus mushrooms in substrates obtained by short composting and steam pasteurization

Abstract

This paper presents results of two experiments for cultivation of Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus pulmonarius and Pleurotus eryngii grown with different formulations of grass and straw mixtures derived from agro-industrial residues. Cultivation was prepared through a number of approaches, such as short composting/pasteurization and axenic culture. In the first experiment, P. pulmonarius was grown on two formulations of different grasses, with no significant differences observed for either productivity or biological efficiency, with values close to 20 and 60%, respectively. The second experiment revealed similar productivity and biological efficiency between P. pulmonarius and P. ostreatus for both forms of substrate treatment (short composting/pasteurization vs. axenic culture), with similar values to those observed in the first experiment. P. eryngii did not produce mushrooms in the composting treatment and showed lower productivity (17.5%) than the other two species (20.5 and 20.8%, respectively) when the substrates were autoclaved (axenic culture). The preparation for short composting and steam pasteurization was described in illustrative figures in order to provide expertise to small producers who wish to initiate economic and sustainable mushroom cultivation making use of regional lignocellulosic residues.

Keywords: Steam pasteurization, lignocellulosic biomass, straw mixtures, mushrooms