Production of yellow and brown oyster mushrooms using sawdust waste and their proximate and amino acid composition

Abstract Accumulation of sawdust waste from various wood applications could have a negative impact on the environment. This study aimed to utilise the mixed sawdust waste to cultivate edible mushrooms. Pleurotus citrinopileatus and Pleurotus pulmonarius were cultivated in two type of media: media A (75% sawdust, 7.5% bran, 10% rice husk, 5% dolomite, and 2.5% gypsum) and B (75% sawdust, 10% bran, 7.5% rice husk, 5% dolomite, and 2.5% gypsum), with 50 replicates per treatment. The inoculated media were incubated in the incubation chamber facilities. The parameters measured were growth of mycelium and fruiting bodies, mushroom yield, biological efficiency (BE), proximate, crude fiber, and amino acid compositions of the mushroom. In general, P. pulmonarius showed superior mycelial growth, fruiting body size, and yield. However, a species-substrate interaction was clear, with P. pulmonarius being more productive in medium A, achieving a BE of 11.74%. Conversely, P. citrinopileatus performed better on medium B with a BE of 10.07%. Nutritionally, both species showed excellent profiles, with all treatments producing mushrooms containing 18 amino acids, including all nine essential ones. The two species produced very high glutamic acids, followed by glycine, alanine, leucine, and aspartic acid. This study concludes that substrate selection presents a trade-off between maximizing productivity and nutritional value, providing a scientific basis for sustainable waste management.