Abstract:
This study was conducted in the Department of Horticulture, College of
Agriculture /University of Baghdad during 2008-2009 season to find the possibility
of using the weeds of cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica) as a replacement for wheat
straw in the cultivation of oyster mushroom [Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.:Fr.)]
because it is hard to find wheat straw around the year and it is high price and it is
using as an animal feed. The white strains of oyster mushroom was imported from
Jordan as a pure culture and used for spawn production. Supplement of wheat bran,
sawdust and crushed cotton seeds was added to the weed substrate to increase the
biological efficiency and the storage life of the mushroom. The flowing storage
temperatures 2±1, 4±1, 8±1 and 23±2 ºC was conducted using very accurate
incubators.
The results showed that addition of 10 % wheat bran to cogon grass substrate
increased the yield to 921.50 gm/kg of dry substrate and increased the biological
efficiency significantly to 92.15 %. Increasing the percentage of wheat bran to 20%
in cogon grass substrate increased protein content to 27.20 %, and this increase was
also significant compared with other treatments. Addition of 10 % wheat bran to
cogon grass substrate increased oyster mushroom dry matter to 11.48% while the
dry matter was 8.78% in the control
Studying the effect of storage temperature showed that 2±1ºC was the best
degree for postharvest oyster mushroom storage, this temperature reduced the
weight loss and inhibit the degradation of the chemical compounds with high food
value in the fruiting bodies such as protein content and phenolic compounds
Compared with other degrees. Addition of 20% crushed cotton seeds to the
substrate reduced protein loss during storage. Also the addition of 10% crushed
cotton seeds to the substrate reduced weight loss to 8.75% compared with 10.71%
in the control treatment.