Plant Residues Organic Compound: It's Potential as Agar-Based Nutrient Media in In-Vitro Culture of Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus)

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

One very important issue that the Philippine is facing today is the disposition of agri-wastes. There are farmers who opted to burn agri-waste as disposition. The burning of these agri-wastes such as rice hull, rice straw, corncobs, cornhusks, palm oil empty bunch, and coco coir dust is pollution to the environment that contributes to climate change. These agricultural wastes can be recycled by maximizing their uses as well as minimizing the burning process which has harmful impact to our environment It is on this premise that the researcher used these agri-wastes as artificial media in the cultivation of mushroom. Hence, this study was conducted.

METHODS

The growth of oyster mushroom (P. ostreatus) in in-vitro culture was conducted to evaluate its potential as influenced by the different crop residues organic compound as agar-based nutrient media. The study was laid out in a Complete randomized Design (CRD) with four (4) treatments replicated three (3) times. The different agri-wastes were collected from various farm areas in Tacurong City. These were cooked with agar then dispensed into petri plates with three duplicates each treatment. The P. ostreatus were sliced into small squares and each square was isolated at the center of the petri plates with different media. These were incubated in the dark room temperature until its full colonization. The mycelial growth of P. ostreatus in the different media was measured using Vernier caliper starting from 3 days after isolation until full colonization.

RESULTS

The different agar-based nutrients such as Water Hyacinth, Potato Dextrose Agar, and Palm Oil Empty Bunch can be a good substitute media for oyster mushroom production, since the substrate favors the growth and colonization of oyster mushroom (P. ostreatus) in in-vitro culture. However, Treatment 1 & 4 could be the two of the best alternatives since it colonized the media in a shortest period compared to other treatments. Further, this is more economical than using PDA. The cost analysis implies that T4 is more expensive culture media compared to different agar-based nutrients

DISCUSSIONS

It is therefore recommended that T1 (Palm Oil Empty Bunch Agar) can be used as substitute culture media in in-vitro culture ofP. ostreatus, the use of Water Hyacinth is also recommended in areas where Palm Oil Empty Bunch Agar is not available.