Substrate Effects on the Yield, Proximate, Phytochemical and Vitamin Attributes of Pleurotus pulmonarius Mushroom

Abstract

The yield attributes and nutrient compositions of Pleurotus pulmonarius under four different substrates (maize-kernel, Empty Palm Fruit Bunch (EPFB), Dry Banana Leaf (DBL), and the Control) were studied in a humid tropical environment. The experimental design was a completely randomized design with nine replications. Variations in the morphological, proximate, vitamin, and phytochemical attributes of the mushrooms were recorded. The data were subjected to statistical analysis. The result revealed a significant substrate effect on the studied attributes. The DBL substrate significantly improved the pileus circumference (39.07 cm), pileus area (124.6 cm), length of stipe (6.37 cm), pileus diameter (12.43 cm), and moisture content in P. pulmonarius, while the maize-kernel substrate had significantly higher protein (4.6%) and flavonoids (14.42%) contents compared to other substrates. The substrate from EPFB gave significantly higher levels of vitamin B1 (3.8 mg/100 g), vitamin B2 (5.7 mg/100 g), vitamin C (114 mg/100 g), and vitamin E (17.4 mg/100 g) than the other substrates. The correlation results reveal that the concentrations of phytochemicals in P. pulmonarius tend to decrease as the morphological attributes expand. This substrate effect can be harnessed to produce mushrooms for specific needs. EPFB substrates can be used to enhance dietary supplementation and antioxidant activity in human nutrition. Mushrooms grown on the substrate formulated with maize kernel could serve as an alternative for animal protein because of their high protein content, while mushrooms produced on the DBL substrate with the highest yield in most attributes are recommended for commercial cultivation of P. pulmonarius.