Journal of Taiwan Agricultural Research

Author:Wei-Sung Li, Yun-Sheng Lue, and Mei-Hsing Chen*

Abstract:

    Phoenix-tail mushroom [Pleurotus sajor-caju (Fr.) Singer] is one of the fve most economically important mushrooms produced in Taiwan.  Sawdust from trees is a major ingredient in the substrate for the production of this mushroom, with more than 30,000 tons used for its production annually.  Using sawdust for mushroom production is not only expensive but also harmful to the environment.  Since rice straw is a major agricultural waste in Taiwan, this study was conducted to determine the possibility of replacing wood sawdust with rice straw for production of Phoenix-tail mushroom.  The experiment was set up with fve treatments, which contained a mixture of rice straw and sawdust at 1:0, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3 and 0:1 ratio (by dry weight).  Six strains of P. sajor-caju were tested for mycelial growth on potato dextrose agar and the fastest-growing strain SJ-10 and the slowest-growing strain SJ-11 were selected for production of fruiting bodies in different treatments.  Results showed that the most suitable substrates for mycelial growth of strains SJ-10 and SJ-11 were the substrates containing rice straw-sawdust mixture at a ratio of 1:3 and 0:1 by dry weight.  The strain SJ-10 produced highest yield (192.3 grams of fruiting bodies per bag) for the treatment of rice straw-sawdust mixture at 1:1 ratio, whereas the strain SJ-11 produced highest yield (222.5 grmas of fruiting bodies per bag) for the treatment of rice straw-sawdust mixture at 1:3 ratio.  Compared to the treatment of substrate contain-ing 100 % sawdust without rice straw, the net proft of each bag was increased by 1.5 dollars (NT$) for the strain SJ-10 grown in the substrate containing rice straw-sawdust mixture at 1:1 ratio and 2.25 dollars (NT$) for the strain SJ-11 grown in the substrate containing rice straw-sawdust mixture at 1:3 ratio.  These results suggest that rice straw has potential for replacing sawdust for commercial pro-duction of Phoenix-tail mushroom and the suitable amount of rice straw in the substrate varies with strains of P. sajor-caju.

Key words:Pleurotus sajor-caju, Rice straw, Yield, Biological effciency, Biological conversion rate

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