BLUE OYSTER MUSHROOM (Pleurotus ostreatus var. columbum Quel) GRAIN SPAWN PRODUCTION USING DIFFERENT CEREAL GRAINS AS SUBSTRATE

Mushrooms are macroscopic fruiting bodies of fleshy fungi, belonging to the class Basidiomycetes or Ascomycetes. Spawn quality is the most important factor in the production of edible mushrooms. Moreover, the selection of the suitable substrate for the grain spawn is one of the vital factors to consider. Thus, this study was conducted to determine and evaluate the effects of the different cereal grains used as substrate on the grain spawn production of the Blue Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus var. columbinus Quél.). This experiment was laid out in a Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with four (4) treatments replicating five (5) tin different grains used as substrate on this study were millet, cracked corn, wheat and sorghum. The data gathered were length of mycelial colonization (cm), and the number of days to full mycelium colonization. Statistical analysis shows that the different substrates used had a high significant influence on the development of the mycelia of the Blue oyster mushroom. Maximum period for mycelial development was on Wheat grain substrate (20 days) followed by Sorghum grain substrate (19 days) and the minimum period for mycelial development was on Cracked Corn (14days) and Millet grain substrate (17 days). However, contaminations were observed on the samples of cracked corn grains substrate several days after the full colonization of mycelium due to its higher moisture content.