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The assessment of Pinus wallichiana sawdust as a basic medium for the cultivation of Pleurotus ostreatus
Dorji, Atsushi Kumata, Karma Thinley, Tshering Choki, Chencho Dukpa
MycoAsia 2025/07.
https://doi.org/10.59265/mycoasia.2025-07
Abstract
To assess the suitability of pine sawdust as a substrate for Pleurotus ostreatus, we prepared a control medium of paddy straw with 17 % wheat bran and test media with pine sawdust mixed at ratios of 25 %, 50 %, 75 %, and 100 %. The fruiting body yield from all pine sawdust mixtures was lower than the control yields, which were 197 g/bottle for strain A and 160 g/bottle for strain B. Yield showed a strong negative correlation with the increasing proportion of pine sawdust (R2=0.9694 and R2=0.9473, respectively). Using this correlation, we calculated that a 40 % pine sawdust mixture would produce a yield comparable to that reported for standard paddy straw media used in Bhutan. The cultivation time from inoculation to harvest was longer for all pine sawdust treatments compared to the controls (51 days for strain A and 50 days for strain B). This period showed a strong positive correlation with the proportion of pine sawdust (R2=0.9662 and R2=0.9786, respectively). The correlation equation predicted that a 40 % pine sawdust mixture would delay the harvest by 16–17 days compared to the control. No significant correlation was observed between the pileus and stipe dimensions and the proportion of pine sawdust. Furthermore, no differences in colour or morphology were observed, even in the 100 % pine sawdust treatment. Therefore, the inclusion of pine sawdust did not diminish the commercial value of the mushrooms based on their physical appearance. We conclude that a pine sawdust ratio of up to 40 % can be practically applied to supplement a substrate of paddy straw and 17 % wheat bran.
Plain Language Summary
The authors studied if pine sawdust can be used to grow oyster mushrooms. They compared mushrooms grown on standard paddy straw (control) to those grown on mixtures with 25% to 100% pine sawdust. Two main trade-offs were found: First, adding more pine sawdust significantly decreased the amount of mushrooms harvested. Second, it increased the time it took for the mushrooms to grow (by 16–17 days for a 40% mix). However, the mushrooms grown on pine sawdust looked normal in shape and color, so their commercial value was not affected. The authors conclude that growers can practically use a substrate containing up to 40 % pine sawdust.
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