PERFORMANCE of MUSHROOM (Pleurotus Abalonus) AS AFFECTED by MAIZE ADDITIVE

1

PERFORMANCE OF MUSHROOM (Pleurotus abalonus) AS AFFECTED BY MAIZE ADDITIVE

BY

1BABATUNDE, F.E., 2OLAWUYI O.J 3UDOM, G,N., 4OMOAYENA, B.O. AND 5EKPEBU, N.C.

1. Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture. OsunStateUniversity, Osogbo. P.M.B. 4014. Ejigbo Campus. Email: or

2. Dept of Biosciences and Biotechnology, BabcockUniversity, Ilisan-Remo, P.M.B21244, Ikeja. Lagos. Nigeria. Email: or

3. Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture. University of Uyo. AkwaIbomState. Nigeria. Email:

4. Provost Office, Federal College of Forestry Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. Email:

5. Crop Production Programme, School of Agriculture. AbubakarTafawaBalewaUniversity, Bauchi. BauchiState. Nigeria. Email:

ABSTRACT

The effect of maize additive on the performance of mushroom (Pleurotus abalonus) was experimented at Port-Harcourt, RiversState of Nigeria in 2007 and 2008. The experiment was carried out in Zitte’s farm located at mile 2 area of Port-Harcourt at a temperature range of 28 - 30oC and under an average humidity of 90%. Materials used for the experiment include; spawn of Pleurotus abalonus mushroom with sawdust, wheat bran and lime in the ratio of 20kg: 3kg: 0.7kg respectively. The materials were mixed properly with an even amount of water after which powdered maize as an additive was added at four levels of concentration viz; 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% while 0% was used as the control. The experiment was made up of five treatments with four replications. The result of this investigation revealed a significant (p = 0.01) increase in growth, yield, firmness, stipe size and pileus size with the application of 3% of maize additive given the optimum level of application in the substrate. No significant result was observed in terms of colour, fresh quality and keeping ability of mushroom under ambient temperature. Therefore, it can be recommended that mushroom growers should apply 3% level of maize additive in substrate during cultivation in order to obtain the best result.

Keywords:. Zea maize,Mushroom, Productivity, additiveand Edible Fungi.

INTRODUCTION

Mushrooms have been known for centuries as special delicacies in human diets all over the world. Their importance in medicine is now highly recognized. They are known to be rich in proteins, sugars, lipids, amino acids, glycogen, vitamins and mineral elements (Isikhuemhen, 1999). They also have potential medicinal benefits (Chang and miles, 1989; San, 1996 and Lin, 1995). Commonly, they are gathered in the wild in many cultures but because of demand, they are now commercially cultivated by man. Mushrooms are propagated by spawninoculated into the substrate. Harvesting commences three to five days after mushroom appearance (Chang and Li, 1982).

Pleurotus abalonus is a well known edible mushroom usually cultivated by farmers. It has a well defined stipe which is whitish and about 5 – 9cm long. It also has a pileus of about 1.5 – 5cm in diameter, whitish and conical or belt shaped which contains gills under it where white spores are produced. It is cultivated on coffee pulp, corn cob, sawdust et.c. (Royse and Schisler, 1986).

For convenience sake, sawdust has been commonly used. Supplements such as wheat bran, rice bran and cotton seed meals among others have been used as nitrogen sources in the substrate. For the sake of this study, only wheat bran is considered with maize additive in graded levels, which serve as a nitrogen source in the substrate. Fasidi and Kadiri (1993) reported that supplementation of substrate with different levels of carbonate based additive has been shown to enhance mushroom production.

Productivity has been hampered by poorly furnished substrate, hence the need for an enriched substrate to increase efficiency in mushroom production is of great importance. Mushroom from different substrate give different results while inclusion of maize additive to the substrate can increase the nutritional value of the substrate and enhance productivity.

In mushroom cultivation however, the reason for insignificant results in the used of maize additive, is tied to the fact that it has been used without recognizing percentage levels hence, the optimum level of maize additive to mushroom substrate has not been defined. This ugly trend in the use of maize additive call for intensive research and appraisal of maize that is cheaply available on the farm.

Sequel to these, this study has been structured to delve into significance and optimum levels of maize additive in the substrate as well as its consequencial effects on the yield of mushroom.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The experiment was conducted at Zitte’s farm located at mile 2 area in Port-Harcourt under an average humidity of 90% and at a temperature range of 28 – 30oC.

Experimental Procedure

Mushroom substrate was prepared by using sawdust, wheat bran and lime in the ratio of 20kg: 3kg: 0.7kg respectively and mixed with some amount of water sufficient to moisten the substrate (Chang and Haye, 1991). The simple squeeze test was conducted to make sure the water content was in order.

Maize additive (local maize) was reduced to the powdered form and added to the substrate at 4 levels (1%, 2%, 3% and 4%) while 0% was used as the control. After proper mixing, they were loaded into heat resistant polythene bags measuring 18cm x 30cm. Small rubber pipes were passed through the top of the bags, after which the mouth of the bags were plugged with cotton wool. Four replicate bags were prepared for each level. The bags were then heat treated to a temperature of 100oC for 3 hours. The bags were then allowed to cool in an air conditioned room to a temperature of 30oC. Spawn of Pleurotus abalones (white in colour) in a bottle was collected from zitte’s farm and was used to inoculate the substrate with 5% of spawn for each bag.

Spawn growth and Fruiting stage

Spawned or inoculated bags (each weighing 1.5kg of substrate) were transferred to a dark well ventilated room. At this stage, the mycelium was seen colonizing or growing down the substrate and spreading to every part of the substrate. After complete colonization, the entire substate bags appeared whitish in colour.

Completely colonized bags were opened for fruiting and this was followed by periodic watering of bags every other day with 750ml of water per day on each bag to avoid dryness.

Fruiting began 21 days after inoculation. Subsequently, harvesting of mushrooms commenced five days after fruiting. Mushroom yield in kg / 1.5kg substrate was taken for all the replications of each treatment and the average values were recorded. Mushroom appearance was counted in days for all the replications of each treatment and the average values were recorded.

The stipe sizes of mushrooms were measured with a measuring rule and the average values were recorded. The diameter or pileus sizes of mushrooms were also measured with a measuring rule and the average values for each treatment were recorded accordingly. The fresh quality and colour of mushroom were determined by physical appearance. The keeping ability was counted in days. The firmness was determined by using the rating scale adopted by Kader et al (1978) as presented in Table 1.

Data Analysis

Data such as stipe size, pileus size, firmness ratings, mushroom appearance and yield of mushroom were subjected to one way analysis of variance. This was based on the principle of arrangement under the complete randomized design with the use of MINITAB version11 computer software.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Growth and Yield Components

The effects of maize additive on the growth and yield of mushroom are presented in Table 2. A significant (p > 0.01) difference was observed in number of days of mushroom appearance between 0% and 4% levels of maize additive. The fastest growth (21 days) was observed with substrate having 3% level of maize additive and the slowest growth (31 days) with that of 4% level of maize additive. Result showed a significant increase in spawn growth and yield with increase in levels of maize additive in the substrate. Spawn growth was faster in substrate with higher levels of maize additive, except that with 4% level of the additive. This decrease in performance observed in substrate with 4% level of maize additive might be due to the presence of ammonia in the substrate. This observation agrees with Song (2007), who reported that ammonia levels of o.1% in a substrate could restrict spawn growth and reduce subsequent yield. However, the faster growth observed in substrate with higher levels of maize additive disagree with the findings of Pottembaum (1997), who reported that spawn growth is more rapid in less nutritional substrates. The result also disagrees with the findings of Beyer and Wilkinson (2007), who reported that substrate with higher nitrogen content, has a slower growth. The results however, conforms with the findings of Quinmio et al. (1990) who reported that nitrogen content has no correlation with spawn growth, since rapid growth has been observed in both high and low nitrogen compost.

The higher yield obtained with increase in levels of maize additive in the substrate justifies the findings of Quinmio et al, (1990) who reported that the greater the nitrogen content with no ammonia, the better the yield. The result showed that optimum yield could be obtained with maize additive level of 3% in the substrate. The result agrees with Zadrazil (1993), who reported that supplementation or inclusion of additive during mushroom cultivation is to enhance yield.

Vegetative Component

There was a significant (p > 0.01) difference in stipe size, pileus size and mushroom firmness (Table 3). The result showed a significant increase with increase in levels of maize additive up to 3% levels of additive application in the substrate. The highest of stipe size (8.25cm), pileus size (4.8cm) and the best mushroom firmness (9.5) were obtained from substrate with 3% levels of maize additive. These were followed by those with 2% levels and the trendcontinues down to 0% level of maize additive in the substrate, while the least were obtained with 4% levels of maize additive.

The result agrees with the observations of Fasidi and Kadiri (1993), who reported that supplementation of substrate with different levels of carbonates and nitrogen-based additives has been shown to enhance mushroom production.

Fresh Quality, Colour and Keeping ability of Mushroom

Table 4 presents the effect of maize additive on the fresh quality of mushrooms. Mushroom from all treatments showed no evidence with dark brown spot, no mushroom with watery stipe and no fist shaped mushroom was observed. In same vein, none of the treatment gave a produced premature mushroom and no marks were sustained on the mushrooms. Results of colour and keeping ability of mushroom are presented in Table 5. Mushrooms obtained from all the treatments were same in colour and had the same shelf life.

There were no significant differences observed among the treatments with regard to fresh quality, colour and keeping ability of mushroom. The result agrees with the findings of Fasidi and Kadiri (1993), who reported that supplementation of substrate with different levels of carbonates and nitrogen-based additives, has been shown to enhance mushroom production.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study indicated clearly that supplementation of substrate with different levels of maize additive actually enhance mushroom productivity. 3% levels of the additive was observed as the optimum level as evidenced by its outstanding performance with regards to number of days before mushroom appearance, yield, stipe size, pileus size and firmness of mushroom.

Prior to this study, maize additive was used in the substrate without recognizing percentage levels. However, the significance of this result regarding percentage levels of maize additive can be said to be of immense contribution to mushroom production by local farmers. The yield and quality of mushroom can be enhanced with the application of the optimum level of maize additive, which are abundantly available in Nigeria. This is a preliminary investigation in which further work is recommended on using maize additive in different substrate with a view to obtaining further information on its efficiency in mushroom cultivation.

REFERENCES

Beyer and Wilkinson (2007). “Cultivation of shiitake on supplemented sawdust”. Shiitake News, 3: 1 – 4.

Chang, S.T. and Haye, T.Y (1991). The Biology and cultivation of edible mushrooms. ChineseUniversity Press, Hong Kong. p 160.

Chang,S.T. and Li, S.F. ( 1982). In Advances in Agricultural Microbiology,(ed. Subba Rao, N.S.). Oxford and IBH Publ. Co., New Delhi. P677-691.

Chang, S.T. and Miles, P.G. (1989). Edible mushrooms and their cultivation, ERC Press, Bocaraton. p 300.

Fasidi, I.O. and Kadiri, M. (1993). Effects of Sporophore maturity on chemical composition of Volvariella esculenta. Die nahrung. 37: 269 – 273.

Isikhuemhen, O.S., Okhuoya, J.A., Ogbo, E.M. and Akpaja, E.O. (1999). “Effect of substrates supplementation with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) fertilizer on sporophore yield in Pleurotus tuberregium”. Micol Neutropolitant Application,12: 9 – 21.

Kader , A.A, Morris, L.L and Chen, P. ( 1978). Evaluation of two objective methods and a subjective rating scale for measuring tomato fruit firmness. Journal of American Soc. Hort. Sci.103:70-73.

Lin, Z. (1995). “Advances in the pharmacology of Tremella polysaccharides”. In : Chang, S.T., Buswell, J.A. and Sin-wai (eds.). Mushroom Biology and Mushroom Products. ChineseUniversity Press, Hong Kong. p 370.

Pottembaum, D.A. (1997). Mushroom cultivation in Thailand. N.W. A publication of Washington, D.C. 2051: Peace Corps, information collection and exchange office of training and program support, 806 connectious avenue, p 85.

Quinmio, T.H., Chang, S.T. and Royse, D.J. (1990). “ Technical guide for mushroom growing in the tropics”. Plant production and protection paper 106. Rome: FAD, p 155.

San, (1996). “Effective dosage of extract of Garnoderma lucidum in treatment of various ailments”. In : Royse, D.J. (ed.). Mushroom Biology and Mushroom products. PennStateUniversity Press, Philadelphia. p 177 – 183.

Song, C.F. (2007). Substrate and spawn growth management in mushroom cultivation. Tenspeed Press, California. p 150.

Zadrazil, H. (1993). “Conversion of lignocelluloses into animal feed with white rot fungi”. In: Chang, S.T., Bruswell, J.A. and Sin-wai, C. (eds.). Mushroom Biology and Mushroom Products. ChineseUniversity Press, Hong Kong. p 298.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Mushroom:The fruiting body of a fungus.

Mycelium:The network of hyphae that forms the vegetative body of the fungus.

Gills:The tissue under the cap that produces the spores.

Pileus:The mushroom cap’

Stipe:The stalk of the mushroom.

Spawn:The pure culture of the mycelium on grain to inoculate the substrate

(mushroom seed).

Culture:Used to describe the way the pure strains are kept.

Pure culture:An isolated culture of a micro organism without any other micro organism.

Spores:Are formed under the cap of the mushroom and serve as the means of

reproducing the fungi.

Substrate:The material on which the mycelium grows.

Table 1: Rating scale for mushroom firmness (Kader et al., 1978).

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SCORESCLASSRESISTANCE TO COMPRESION BY FINGER

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10ExcellentFruit yield slightly to considerable pressure

8Very goodFruit yield readily to considerable pressure

6GoodFruit yield slightly to considerable pressure

4FairFruit yield readily to moderate pressure

2PoorFruit yield slightly to slight pressure

0Very poorFruit yield readily to slight pressure

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Table 2: Effects of maize additive on the growth and yield of mushroom.

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Substrate levels (%)Mushroom Appearance (Days)Yield (kg / 1.5kg Substrate

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0 (Control)281.7

1271.9

2232.1

3212.3

4310.7

LSD (p > 0.01)2.970.33

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Table 3: Effects of maize additive on sizes of stipe, pileus and firmness of mushroom.

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Substrate levels (%)Stipe size (cm)Pileus size (cm)Firmness

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0 (Control)6.752.67.5

17.002.98.0

27.754.49.0

38.254.89.5

45.252.22.5

LSD (p > 0.01)0.871.021.79

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Table 4: Effects of maize additive on fresh qualities of mushroom.

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Substrate levels (%)DBMWSFSMPMSM

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0 (Control)NoneNoneNoneNoneNone

1NoneNoneNoneNoneNone

2NoneNoneNoneNoneNone

3NoneNoneNoneNoneNone

4NoneNoneNoneNoneNone

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Table 5: Effects of maize additive on keeping ability (under ambient temperature) and colour of mushroom.

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Substrate levels (%)Keeping AbilityColour

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0 (Control)Maximum of 2 DaysWhite

1Maximum of 2 DaysWhite

2Maximum of 2 DaysWhite

3Maximum of 2 DaysWhite

4Maximum of 2 DaysWhite

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