ABSTRACT

 Different growth media ancj environmental variables oftemperature and pH affected the vegetative growth of Pleurotus ostrealus var florida. Andropogon straw produced significantly higher mycelial extension (13.48cm), more numerous fruit-bodies (27.25) and heavier fruit-bodies (56.65g) (P< 0.01) than the other three agr<-wastes used. The least mycelial extension, number and weight of fruit-bpdies were recorded from Panicum. Amendment, ofAndropogon straw with 5% and 10% levels of manure did not significantly affect fruit-body number, (P<0.05), while its amendment with 5% cow dung and 5% turkey droppings resulted in higher fruit-body fresh weight (66.82 and 54.38g. respectively) than those from the rest of the amendments but no! from the control substrate (67.44g). Similarly, amending the straw significantly reduced the pileus and stipe sizes. Among the plastic pail hole sizes of 7cm, 8cm, 9cm and 10 cm investigated, 9cm hole size resulted in significantly higher fruit-body number, heavier fruit-bodies, wider pileus and longer stipe than those produced in the other hole sizes. The stipe length ofthe fruit-bodies.produced in all the other hole sizes were not significantly different. For hole numbers of 54, 63, 72 or 81, investigated, plastic buckets with 72 or 63 holes produced larger and heavier fruit-bodies than 54 and 81 holes. The pileus diameter or the stipe length did not significantly vary with hole number. Friut-bodics from Andropogon straw showed the highest activity (0.39 ± 0.06), while rice and Peniiisel'un straws showed close activity of 0.46 ± 0.13 and 0.46 ± 0.01 respectively. Amendment of the substrate did not influence the moisture content and fat and oil contents ofthe mushroom while the ash content varied significantly from 1% in Andropogon straw with 10% cow dung to’ 4% in AS plus 5% CD. Similarly, dietary fibre content was significantly highest in fruit bodies produced on AS + 10% chicken droppings (PD) and lowest in those produced on AS + 10% CD, but not significantly different from those produced on the control and Pennisetum straw (PS) (P<0.05). The un-supplemented PS produced mure carbohydrates than the supplemented AS. The mineral contents of the fruit-bodies Rom the substrates with 10% organic manure in each case were higher than those with 5% additive. A similar, trend' was observed in the other elements for the two levels each of chicken and turkey droppings. The control yielded significantly lower macro-eicments than other treatments. Fruit-bodies harvested from AS had significantly lower vitamins than those obtained from AS supplemented with 5 and 10% CD. Similarly, 5 and 10% chicken manure did not affect vitamins content ofthe fruit bodies. Niacin and rinoflavin increased with increased level ofsupplementation. Straw with 10% cow dung produced mushrooms with 0.05% alkaloids while those from the control straw contained only 0.02%. Supplementation with 5 or 10% chicken droppings and 5 or 10% turkey droppings significantly affected flavonoids content, while supplementation with 5 and 10% manure did not affect phenolic content, (P < 0.05). The quantities of saponin and tannin were suppressed by high level ofsupplementation (P < 0.05). The results of the investigations were discussed in relation to cultivation and domestication of Pleurotus ostreatus var jlorida, in commercial quantities for local consumption.