Cultivation of Straw Mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) Using Some Agro-Waste Material.

By Ahlawat, O. P., and R. P. Tewari.

 

Mushrooms are known to be among the largest of fungi that attracted the attention of naturalists before microscopes were invented. They can grow underground having a non-fleshy texture and need not be edible. Fungi can exist in many form exist in mycorrhizal relationship with trees, and this is one of the reasons why forests are often generous to mushroom hunters. Some wild mycorrhizal mushrooms cannot be cultivated unless the tree is also cultivated. Edible mushroom like Volvariella volvacea has catch attention of many people as the sources of food and medicinal values. The paddy straw mushroom is preferred type of mushroom by most consumers because of its aroma and taste .It grows on almost all cellulosic agricultural waste material like rice straw, banana leaves dried paddy straw .These substrates are used because they contain cellulose and also pose a problem of disposal to the environment. Mushroom has become a contemporary business enterprise because of its high nutritional and medicinal values, and high societal demand. The objective of this study is to determine the suitability some common agro-waste materials in the growth of Volvariella volvacea. The material used for this study are Volvariella volvacea, which were planted on paddy straw, oil palm fibre, sawdust and a mixture of sawdust and oil palm fibre. This four substrates were separately packed into polythene bags and tied up for sterilization. Then, the substrates were steam-sterilized for three hours and allowed to cool while still in the drum. After that, the spawn was sprinkled on the substrates covered with sterile polythene sheet and watered daily to maintain a high relative humidity of between 75 – 80%. The parameters that were measured includes the number of fruiting bodies, diameter of pileus, and weight of the fruitbodies. The results obtained from the experiment is that after 15 days of being planting and incubation, whittish mycelia colonized all the substrates Few days later, fruitbodies were observed firstly on the paddy straw, then oil palm fibre. 3 days later, the fruitbodies were found on the mixture of oil palm fibre and lastly on the sawdust. All of the four substrates support the growth of the mushroom. This proved that Volvoriella volvacea could be grown on agricultural waste. The duration of growth is very short and many fruitbodies could be produced within the period. It is also reported that Volvoriella volvacea is not only an excellent edible mushroom but also can colonize substrates and grow quickly on some unsuplemented agrowaste. As a result, this mushroom can be used to reduce agro waste in the environment. Thus, it creates a way of reducing environmental pollution.