Performance of Waste Paper as a Substrate for Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus L.) Cultivation

Purpose: Cultivation of Pleurotus spp. (Oyster mushroom) is economically feasible, exploiting its great capacity to degrade cellulose, lignin and hemicelluloses present in organic wastes. Waste paper is a very common pollutant thrown as garbage with no recycling plan in the environment. In view of the growing importance of food security and environmental sanitation this study was conducted to evaluate the performance of waste paper as a substrate for cultivation of Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus L.), supplemented with sawdust and wheat bran. Methods: Pure culture of Pleurotus ostreatus was propagated using sterilized wheat grain as substrate for spawn preparation. The collected waste paper along with the saw dust and wheat bran was mixed as per the design [three different substrate mixtures/treatments (T-1, T-2 and T-3) were prepared], composted for a week, filled in polyethene bags and sterilized. Substrate bags were inoculated with Oyster spawn and incubated in a cultivation room with controlled conditions (light, temperature, humidity and ventilation). Data for growth parameters (number of days for primordia growth, number of fruiting bodies per bag, crop yield, biological efficiency and contamination rate) were recoded for each bag of each treatment, compared against the control group (records of evaluated parameters from the mushroom extension unit) and were analyzed statistically using two-factor Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with replication technique. Results: Treatment-3 (waste paper supplied with saw dust and wheat bran) showed high performance in terms of mean crop yield (150.58 ± 1.2g) and BE (43.1 ± 1.1%); while Treatment-1(waste paper alone without any supplement) scores lower BE (17.3±2.1%). Based on the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) this study shows that all the growth parameters were found significantly different at p-value (p < 0.01) considering each growth parameter among the treatments. Conclusion: Therefore, waste paper along with required percentage of sawdust and wheat bran can be used as alternative substrate for cultivation of this prized mushroom reducing substrate expenses, adding a new food recipe to nutritional cuisine and reducing waste paper pollution on the environment on the other hand.