PERFORMANCE OF BLUE OYSTER MUSHROOM (Pleurotus ostreatus var. columbinus) GRAIN SPAWN AS INFLUENCE BY SORGHUM, WHOLE CORN KERNEL, MILLET, AND POLISHED RICE AS SUBSTRATES

Mushroom is a saprotrophic organism, belonging to the class Basidiomycetes and naturally grows on the decaying organic matter. Spawn quality is the most important factor in the production of edible mushrooms. However, the selection of suitable substrate for the grain spawn is one of the essential factors to consider. This laboratory study was conducted from January to March 2020 at the College of Agriculture Pest and Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory at Mindanao State University Fatima General Santos City, to evaluate the effect of different grains used as a substrate for the blue oyster mushroom. The experiment study was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four treatments and replicated four times. The different treatments evaluated in this study were as follows: T1- Millet, T2- Polished rice, T3- Whole corn kernel, and T4-Sorghum. The data gathered were as follows: length of mycelia colonization, number of days to 50% mycelia colonization, number of days to 100% mycelial colonization and the number of days discoloration of Blue oyster mushroom under different grain substrate. Statistical analysis results showed that the performance of Blue oyster mushrooms under the influence of different substrates had no significant effect on the length of mycelial colonization. However, there were significant results observed on the number of days to 50% colonization, 100% mycelial colonization, and days to mycelial discoloration. Corn (whole kernel) colonized carliest and millet substrates showed the latest among of all treatments based on the data gathered on 50% and 100% days of mycelial colonization. Furthermore, there was a significant result on the discoloration of the different cereal grain substrates whereas corn (whole kernel) showed the longest and rice (polished) found the shortest number of days to discoloration among all the treatments.