Indian Phytopath. 58 (1) : 63-66 (2005)

Influence of environmental conditions on spawn run, pinhead formation and biological efficiency of Pleuratusdjamar

B. BHOOSHAN SHARMADepartment of Plant Pathology, Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur 492 006

ABSTRACT: The effect of prevailing environmental conditions on spawn run, pin head formation and biologicalefficiency of Pleurotus djamor was studied continuously for 9 months from February-October 2003 on Paddy,Wheat and Mustard straw. July month took minimum time (6.75 to 8.5 days) for spawn run and 10.5 to 11.5days for pin head formation and gave the highest biological efficiency (45.2 to 46.0) on all the three substrates.However, February and March months took more period for spawn run and pin head initiation and yield wasless .No spawn run was observed in months of April, May and June. Correlation coefficient analysis showednegative correlation with maximum, minimum and average temperature. It was negative and significant onlyfor the period for spawn run and pin head formation in case of wheat and mustard substrates. Correlationcoefficient for biological efficiency was negative and non- significant with maximum, minimum and averagetemperature in case of paddy and wheat straw substrate, however, mustard straw showed positive and non-significant relationship with minimum temperature.

Key words: Environmental conditions, months, yield, Pleurotus djamor

Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus spp.) is commonlycalled as Dhingri in India because of its oyster likeshape. The genus has about 38 well recognizedspecies out of which 25 have been reported fromIndia, of which 12 are cultivated in different parts ofthe country. Its cultivation can be done on anumber of agricultural wastes and organic wastematerials. Different mushrooms require differentclimatic conditions for their mycelial growth andfruiting. Most of the mushrooms species haveunique ability to degrade cellulose, hemicelluloseand lignin of different agro-wastes and organic-waste materials and utilize them to produce ediblebiomass of high nutritive value. Mushroomconstitutes low calorie diet havinq high amount ofprotein, vitamins and minerals. In general, mushroomfruit body on dry weight basis contains 55%Carbohydrate, 32% Protein, 2% Fat and restMinerals and Vitamins. These are excellent sourceof Thiamin (Vitamin-B1), Riboflavin (B2) , Niacin,Pantothenic acid (vitamin B -complex), Biotin, Folicacid and vitamins like C, D, A and K which are

retained even after cooking. Mushrooms are rich inprotein and contain all the nine essential aminoacids required for human body. World production ofmushroom is nearly 5 million tons of which largestshare (37.7%) is of button mushroom followed byShiitake (16.8%) and oyster mushroom (16.3%).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The experiments were carried out at themushroom research laboratory, Department of Plantpathology, Indira Gandhi Agricultural University,Raipur (M.P.). The pure culture of Pleurotus djamorwas procured from Department ofMicrobiology,Rajendra Agricultural University,Samastipur, Bihar. Paddy, wheat and mustardstraw were used as substrates which were obtainedfrom the instructional farm. A well ventilated bamboohut made of thatched roofing was used as acropping room. Meteorological observations liketemperatures (Maximum-Minimum) prevailirg in thecropping room was recorded daily. All the

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experimental data was analyzed as per CompletelyRandomized Design (C. R. D.) with equalreplications. The Critical Differences or LeastSignificant Differences (L. S. D.) was assed at 5%probability. Locally available substrates like paddy,wheat and mustard were evaluated for cultivation ofP.djamor. The chopped straw substrates weresteeped in water containing 75ppm Carbendazim+500ppm Formaldehyde for 18hours. (Vijay andSohi, 1987). Excess water was decanted on sloppycemented floor and was dried in shed to retain 65-70% moisture. Spawning was done with @ 4% onw/w basis of straw by thoroughly mixing. Asepticconditions in the spawning room were maintainedby sprinkling 4% Formalin. Spawned substrate(0.5kg/bag) was filled in polyethylene bags (9" , 12"size) and the mouth of the bags was closed witha nylon rope. Perforations (70-90 holes) were madewith the help of prove to allow free passage of airwithin the bags. The bags were incubated in croppingroom. After complete colonization of straw withmycelium polyethylene bags were removed andhung on rack for fruiting. Flushes of mushroomfrom the beds were picked up till 35-38 days afterspawning. Mushroom beds were hung in croppingroom with the help of nylon string at a distance of30-40 cm. apart. The beds were moistened bysprinkling of water thrice a day which was stoppeda day before harvesting and again continued. Pinhead sized mushroom initiated after 2-3 days ofbag removal and the fruiting body matured within 3-4 days. First picking was done at 5th or 7th days ofbag removal. Maturity of the sporophores wasjudged when the edges of pilei begin to fold or curlupwards. Far successive flushes were harvested atan interval of 7-8 days from the same bag. Thebiological efficiency expressed in percentage wascalculated by following the formula chang, (1981).

Fresh weight of mushroomBiologicalEfficiency= ----------x 100

Dry weight of substrate

Observations were recorded on spawn run,number of days taken for primordia formation, yieldand biological efficiency of the substrate. All thetreatments were replicated four times.

Karl personas correlation coefficient values weretested individually at 5% probability betweendependent variables (i.e. yield related parametersof mushroom and independent variables (i.e.

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maximum- minimum and average temperature)following the formula as below.

~t = ---.===

~

Where,

t = Test for test of significance

r = Correlation coefficient

n = Number of observations

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The cultivation of P. djamor for nine successivemonths (February to October) on 3 substratesshowed that July is the best month with respect todays for spawn run and pin head formation as wellas to get maximum yield. There was no spawn runat mean temperature above 30°C on all thesubstrates (Table 1).

The correlation coefficient analysis indicatednegative correlation with maximum, minimum andaverage temperature and it was negative andsignificant only for the period of spawn run and pinhead formation in case of wheat and mustardstraw. Correlation coefficient for biological efficiencywas negative and non-significant with maximum,minimum and average temperature in case of paddyand wheat straw, however, mustard straw showedpositive and non- significant relationship withminimum temperature (Table 2a, b, c).

July was found to be the best month withregard to reduction in duration for spawn run andpin head formation and increase in biologicalefficiency on all the three substrates. Shukla (1995)from Raipur reported July to October as favourablemonths for cultivation of Pleurotus spp. Ram (1995)reported August-September as the best months.Bano and Rajarathnam (1982) obtained maximumyield of Pleurotus spp. during rainy season.Marimuthu et aI., (1991) reported October to Januaryas favourable months for cultivation of P. platypusand P. citrinopileatus. The results of this studyshow that there was no spawn run during themonths of April, May and June when the meantemperature was above 30°C. Similar results wereobtained by Ram (1995) and (Singh et aI., 1997).

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Table 1. Influence of environmental conditions on spawn run, pin head formation and biological efficiency of P.djamor

Months Temperature (0C) Paddy straw* Wheat straw* Mustard straw*

Max. Min. Av. 2 3 2 3 2 3

February 29.6 14.9 22.3 11.5 15.8 23.9 13.3 16.5 34.8 18.0 20.3 6.0March 32.5 16.7 24.6 14.5 19.0 27.7 12.0 14.3 21.6 19.3 24.8 18.0April 38.0 22.8 30.7May 42.0 26.3 34.2June 37.7 27.0 32.4July 31.4 24.7 28.1 6.8 10.5 45.5 8.5 11.3 45.3 8.0 11.5 46.0August 31.1 24.8 28.0 11.0 13.0 20.8 12.0 14.0 22.1 9.3 13.0 30.9September 31.4 24.6 28.0 16.8 20.8 2.0 10.0 16.0 24.0 8.0 12.0 10.8October 30.6 22.0 26.3 17.0 18.3 36.3 8.0 12.0 25.0 8.5 11.0 20.0

1. Spawn run2. Pin head * Average of four replications3. Biological efficiency

Table 2a.Correlation coefficient between environ-mental conditions and yield relatedparameters on paddy straw

Environmentalconditions

Yield related parameters**Spawn run Pinning B.E.

Max. Temp. (0C)Min. Temp. (0C)Av. Temp. (0C)

0.061-0.100-0.080

0.160-0.280-0.220

-0.70*-0.39-0.63

Table 2b. Correlation coefficient between environmentalconditions and yield related parameters onwheat straw

Environmentalconditions

Yield related parameters**Spawn run Pinning B.E.

Max. Temp. (0C)Min. Temp. (0C)Av. Temp. (0C)

-0.59-0.63-0.70*

-0.59-0.630.70*

-0.57-0.45

-0.59

Table 2c. Correlation coefficient between environmentalconditions and yield related parameters onmustard straw

Environmentalconditions Spawn run Pinning B.E.

Yield related parameters**

Max. Temp. (0C)Min. Temp. (0C}Av. Temp. (0C)

-0.62-0.77~<···

-0.80·

* Significant at P = 0.05** Average of four replications.

The correlation coefficient analysis indicatednegative correlation with maximum, minimum andaverage temperature with regard to duration ofspawn run, pinhead formation and biologicalefficiency on all the three substrates. In contrast toabove result Kumar et aI., (1997) from Meghalayareported a positive correlation of yield with averageminimum temperature in the case of P. sajor-caju.

REFERENCESBano, Z. and Rajarathnam, S. (1982). Pleurotus

mushroom as nutritious food. In : "TropicalMushroom-Biological Nature and cultivationMethods." (Eds. S.T. chang and T.H. Quimio). TheChinese Uni. Press, Hongkong. pp. 363-382.

Chang, S.T., Lau, O.W. and Cho, K. Y. (1981). Thecultivation and nutritive value of Pleurotus Sajor-caju. European J. Apple. Microbiol. Bio technol.12:58-62.

Kumar, M., Kumar, A., Singh, V. K. and Kumar, H.(1997). Effect of different environmental conditionson yield of four Pleurotus spp. Paper presented inIndian mushroom conference-97 at NCMRT, solanfrom 10-12th September, pp. 27 (Abstr.).

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Ram, R.N. (1995). Studies on oyster mushroom(Pleurotus florida) and mycoflora associated withpaddy straw substrate. M.Sc. thesis, IGKV, Raipur.pp. 63.

Shukla, C.S. (1995). Yield performance of Pleurotusspp. National symposium on "Recent trends inthe management of biotic and abiotic stress inPlants". Nov.2-3, 1995.

Singh, S., Rana, R.S. and Srivastava, M.P. (1997).Studies on yield potential of different oyster

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mushroom species in Haryana conditions. Paperpresented in Indian mushroom conference-97 atNCMRT, solan from 10-12th September pp. 7(abstr.).

Vijay, B. and Sohi, H.S. (1987). Cultivation of oystermushroom Pleurotus sajor-caju (Fr.) Singer onchemically sterilized wheat straw. Mushroom J.Tropics. 7: 67-75.

Received for publication September 21, 2004