Evaluating Untraditional Agro-Industrial Wastes in Pleurotus ostreatus Cultivation and its Spent Countervailing Composted Soil in Lettuce Plantation as an Added Value

Abstract

The oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus production in submerged culture (SMC) was conducted on variable agro-industrial wastes including rice straw (RS), sugarcane bagasse (SCB), orange peels (OP), olive mill pomace (OMP), moringa leaves (ML) and jojoba meal (JM), where RS, SCB, OP and OM offered P. ostreatus growth the highest dry weights and protein contents. Solid state culturing (SSC)
for P. ostreatus was applied on RS, SCB, OP and OMP in combination and permutation. The best biological efficiencies (BE) and production rates (PR) for P. ostreatus were achieved in presence of OP mixed in combination with either RS, SCB or OM to be 86.6%, 173; 56.1%, 104 and 34.5%, 61 [BE%, PR], respectively. As the resulting spent mushroom substrates (SMS) were applied in pot experiment with soil for lettuce (Lactuca sativa) plantation, it was found to gradually countervail the role of compost and clay soil. The harvested L. sativa grown on SMS mixed in variable ratios of 25, 50 and 75% with composted clay soil increased harvested dry weight by 7, 15 and 3%, respectively, compared to composted soil alone. Correlation coefficients of chemical and physical analysis for both P. ostreatus and L. sativa against detected laccase, peroxidase and catalase activities were discussed.