Comparing the Growth Rate of Four Pleurotus Fungi on Wheat Stubble and Date Palm Leaf

In a 4×3 factorial completely randomized experiment, four Pleurotus strains including P. florida,P. ostreatus A., P. ostreatus M and P. ostreatus T, were cultured on wheat stubble (WS), date palmleaf (DPL) and potato dextrose agar (PDA) as well. Growth rate of the mycelium was measured fortwo weeks of incubation. At the first week of incubation, growth rate of P. ostreatus A. AndP. ostreatusM. were higher (P<0.05) than P. florida and P. ostreatus T., whereas it was inverse duringthe second week of incubation. An interaction effect (P<0.05) was found between strains withsubstrates. During the first week of incubation, the highest amount of mycelial running rate was shownby P. ostreatus A and P. ostreatus T on PDA followed by P. florida. In addition, P. ostreatus A andP. ostreatus T had significantly (p<0.05) more growth rate on DPL than WS. However, the finalcumulative growth rate was not statistically different among the strains or the substrates. The drymater (DM) and organic matter (OM) losses were different (P<0.05) between the substrates but nosignificant variation was shown among the strains. The crude protein (CP) was increased in thebiomass obtained from fungal treatment but it was significantly (p<0.05) different among the strainson the different substrates. In conclusion, P. ostreatus A. and P. ostreatus T. showed a substantialmycelium running ability in wheat straw and date palm leaf to producing higher crude protein.

Keywords:

Pleurorus fungi , Mycelial running , Wheat stubble , Ddate palm leaf