Cultivation of Agaricus blazei on Pleurotus spp. spent substrate

The aim of this work was the use of Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus sajor-caju for the previous lignocellulolytic decomposition of banana tree leaf straw and the further use of the degraded straw as substrate for the culture of Agaricus blazei. For optimising the production of A. blazei in terms of yield (Y%) and biological efficiency (BE%), adjustments to the composition of the substrate were evaluated in a 2(5) experimental design. The following components were tested in relation to % of substrate dry mass: urea (1 and 10%), rice bran (10 or 20%) or ammonium sulphate (0 or 10%), inoculum (10 or 20%) and the casing material (subsoil or burned rice husks). The best results (79.71 Y% and 6.73 BE%) were found when the substrate containing 10% of rice bran, without ammonium sulphate, inoculated with 20% and covered with subsoil was used.