Influence of Mixtures of Water Hyacinth Shoot Dry Biomass and Sawdust on the Growth and yield of Pleurotus florida (oyster mushroom)
Idowu O.O. and *Otunla C.A.
National Horticultural Research Institute, P.M.B. 5432 Idi-Ishin, Jericho, Ibadan, Nigeria.
*Corresponding author: Otunla Caleb Adewale, Tel: +234 806 7438 116 E-mail: casotliz@yahoo.com
Accepted on May 8, 2014
Abstract
The need to boost production of edible protein sources for human consumption was the aim of this research study. This work also investigated the conversion of wastes to wealth by using sawdust and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) in Pleurotus florida production. Water hyacinth, a water weed, is a nuisance in our environment especially when rotten. In this study, P. florida (oyster mushroom) was cultivated on a mixture of chopped water hyacinth and sawdust. The experimental set-up was a complete randomized design (CRD) in three (3) replicates. Data were collected on growth and yield parameters. The parameters measured were number of fruiting bodies, fruiting bodies weight, average fruiting body weight, width of pileus, length of stipe, biological efficiency, production efficiency, days to full colonization, days to primordial initiation and average mycelia extension per day. Results obtained from this study revealed that sawdust alone, as substrate, gave the highest number of fruits (18.67). Similar trend was observed in fruit weight, length of stipe, mycelia extension per day, production efficiency and biological efficiency. The largest width of pileus was produced by water hyacinth alone (9.33cm) while the smallest was obtained from the substrate mixture of ratio 2:2. This result is an indication that sawdust alone is more productive, when compared with water hyacinth alone or in combination, for the cultivation of Pleurotus florida.