Evaluation of Yield and Spoilage Moulds of Pleurotus Ostreatus Grown on Sawdust, Wood Ash and Cassava Bran

Evaluation of yield and spoilage moulds of Pleurotus ostreatus grown on sawdust, wood ash and cassava bran were conducted in the Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology and Dilomat Farms and Services Limited, Rivers State University. The three substrate materials were subjected to different concentrations and mixtures. A total of ten treatments were formulated including the control containing only sawdust and a combined effect containing all the substrate materials. Yield parameters assessed were height of fruiting body, length of stipe, width of stipe, length of pileus, diameter of pileus and weight of harvest. Sawdust and cassava bran (SCB) treatment had highest height of fruiting body (11.50±1.41). Equal diameter of pileus (6.25±1.06) was recorded for both combined effect (CE) and SWA treatments. However, equal values of pileus length were recorded for both CE and sawdust and wood ash (SWA) treatments. The control treatment had highest values for length of stipe, width of stipe and weight of harvest. Four fungal organisms viz: Rhizopus oryzae, Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium oxysporium and Trichoderma harzianum were found to contaminate the experiment bags. R. oryzae and T. harzianum had equal incidence of 27%. This was followed by 24% incidence recorded for A. flavus. Lowest incidence of 22% was observed for F. oxysporium. The deteriorative activities of these isolates affected the development of higher concentration levels of sawdust and cassava bran treatments as there was no harvest recorded for these treatments due to contamination. Generally, the control treatment performed better than other treatments used.