ABSTRACT

The effects of different substrates namely Pennisetum straw, Andropogon straw, groundnut cake husks and Gnielina saw dust on the mycelial growth of Pleurotus squarrosulus supplemented with 5% and 10% chicken, turkey, cow and goat manures were investigated. Similarly, the effects of different inorganic chemicals viz Na2SO3.51120, NaNO2, KCI, K2SO4, MgCl2and NH4Cl on the mycelial growth of the mushroom were investigated. The inorganic chemicals were added to Malt Extract Agar which is the basal medium. The mycelium of P. squarrosulus grew on all s substrates and media. Andropogon straw and groundnut husk, supplemented with 5% chicken manure recorded the highest mycelial extension (8.5 cm), while the least growth was recorded on Gmelina saw dust supplemented with 10% turkey manure (table 1). Generally, the substrates with 5% additives gave significantly higher yield than their counterparts with 10% additives and the unsupplemented substrates. The result with inorganic chemicals, showed that the basal medium supplemented with 0.5g NaNO2(T2) gave the highest yield followed by that supplemented with 5g NaS2O3.5H20 (Ti). The least was recorded for T5 and T6 which were also significantly lower than the control (T9). Following the results, it is suggested that additives such as NaNO2be used as additives at 5% level to Andropogon straw and malt extract agar respectively for mass production of mycelium of P. squarrosulus.