The Effects of Substrates and Spawn Levels on Growth and Development of Florida Oyster Mushroom

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Abstract

In order to investigate the effects of substrate and spawn levels on growth and development of Florida oyster mushroom an experiment was conducted in 2005 at the laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, Agriculture Faculty, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz. The design of the experiment was a factorial one of a randomized complete blocks of 3 replications. The two factors of substrate and spawn were conducted at three levels. Substrate consisted of sugarcane bagasse, wheat straw, and a mixture of sugarcane bagasse and wheat straw in a 1:1 ratio. Spawn in three levels of 2.5, 4, and 5 percent were investigated. Traits determined consisted of days for taken to completion of spawn runners, pin heads as well as fruiting bodies formation, mushroom yields, dry wight, and protein content. The results showed that the effects of substrate and spawn levels on determined characteristics in total and at 1% level of probability were significant. A comparison of means with Duncan's New Multiple Range Test (DNMRT) indicated that dry matter and grown mushroom protein in sugarcane bagasse substrate treatment were higher than those in the other two substrates whereas mushroom yield on wheat straw substrate and in 5% spawn level was higher than that in the other treatments. The results also indicated that in these last treatments fruit body formation was significantly faster.

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