Using tea waste as a new casing material in mushroom (Agaricus bisporus (L.) Sing.) cultivation (original) (raw)
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World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2012
Preliminary studies suggested that the use of compost tea made from spent mushroom substrate (SMS) may be regarded as a potential method for biologically controlling dry bubble disease in button mushroom. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of SMS compost tea on the host, the button mushroom, to ascertain whether the addition of these water extracts has a toxic effect on Agaricus bisporus mycelium growth and on mushroom yield. In vitro experiments showed that the addition of SMS compost tea to the culture medium inoculated with a mushroom spawn grain did not have an inhibitory effect on A. bisporus mycelial growth. The effect of compost teas on the quantitative production parameters of A. bisporus (yield, unitary weight, biological efficiency and earliness) was tested in a cropping trial, applying the compost teas to the casing in three different drench applications. Quantitative production parameters were not significantly affected by the compost tea treatments although there was a slight delay of 0.8-1.4 days in the harvest time of the first flush. These results suggest that compost teas have no fungitoxic effect on A. bisporus so that they can be considered a suitable biocontrol substance for the control of dry bubble disease.
Evaluation of Tea Wastes as an Alternative Substrate for Oyster Mushroom Cultivation
University of Mauritius Research Journal, 2009
Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus sajor caju) is locally cultivated on sugarcane bagasse substrate. Due to decreasing supply of bagasse, there was an urgent need to identify alternative substrates. The aim of this study was to evaluate tea wastes as an alternative substrate for oyster mushroom cultivation. The first step was to assess growth of oyster mushroom mycelium on PDA containing tea wastes extract. Antifungal substances found in tea wastes slowed mycelial growth but was not lethal to it. As positive results were obtained, substrate mixtures containing different proportions of tea wastes and sugarcane bagasse were assessed in fruiting bags to identify the most promising substrate mixture on which the effects of supplements such as lime and crushed maize seeds were assessed independently. Substrate containing 75% sugarcane bagasse and 25% tea wastes showed promising results in terms of mycelial growth and fructification. This substrate mixture was selected for further trials with lim...