Effects of Khaya ivorensis and Hevea brasiliensis Wood Sawdust on the Cultivation and Nutritional Composition of Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacaum ex. Fr. Kummar)

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the effect of hardwood (Khaya ivorensis) and softwood (Hevea brasiliensis) on the proximate and nutritional composition of (Pleurotus ostreatus) (Jacaum ex. Fr. Kummar) with the aim of comparing its proximate and nutritional composition on the soft and hardwood substrates. Completely Randomized Design (CRD) was used by cultivating P.ostreatus on substrates prepared from Khaya ivorensis and Hevea brasiliensis sawdust, evaluating growth yield parameters, analyzing the harvested mushrooms for proximate and nutritional composition, and statistically comparing the results using ANOVA at 5% significance level. The proximate composition and mineral content of the harvested Pleurotus ostreatus were analyzed from the two substrates. The proximate composition result showed that softwood contains more crude fibre at 56.31%, while hardwood contain 43.29% of crude fibre. Furthermore, softwood contains 24.05% of carbohydrates and 19.82% of carbohydrate in hardwood. The table further shows that crude lipid is the least (11.74%) in softwood and 8.13% in hardwood. While ash content is high in hardwood, with 0.42 and 0.21 in softwood. There is no significant difference (p>0.05) between the percentage nutrient content in hardwood and softwood, however there is a statistical difference p<0.05) in the minerals constituent among the wood types, with the coefficient of determination at 0.823, meaning that 82.3 % of the data influenced this result. The result of the micro nutrients analysis indicates that hardwood mushrooms contain more minerals compared to softwood mushrooms; however, potassium and phosphorus are higher at 1740.8 and 520.37 mg/100g, respectively. The least mineral happens to be vitamin C for both softwood and hardwood mushrooms at 12.96 and 13.54 mg/100g, respectively. There is no significant difference (p>0.05) between the percentage of micro nutrients in hardwood and softwood, however there is a statistical difference p<0.05) in the minerals constituent among the wood types, with the coefficient of determination at 0.984, meaning that 0.961% of the data influenced this result.