Determination of appropriate growth medium for production of sclerotia in Pleurotus tuber-regium

This study determined appropriate growth medium for production of sclerotia in Pleurotus tuber-regium. Due to climate change and other anthropogenic activities, such as forest depletion, sclerotia sourcing form the wild is tending towards extinction. An alternative production of sclerotia is therefore imperative. This research was conducted in the Mushroom Farm of the University of Port-Harcourt, Nigeria. Fresh and Composted sawdust were used for the cultivation of Pleurotus tuber-regium to determine a better substrate medium for sclerotia production. The composted sawdust was left to decompose for two weeks while the fresh sawdust was used without decomposition. Mycelia ramification and sclerotia production were observed in the course of the research. Full mycelia ramification for composted substrate took more days (26 days from inoculation of substrate with mushroom spawn) compared with fresh sawdust (25 days from inoculation of substrate with mushroom spawn). However, there was no significant difference for mycelia ramification between the substrates. Sclerotia production took shorter days on composted substrate (47 days from inoculation of substrate with mushroom spawn)and significantly different (P≤0.05) from production on the fresh sawdust (49 days from inoculation of substrate with mushroom spawn).Fresh weight of sclerotia for the composted sawdust weighed 21.6± 5.6 grams while the fresh weight of sclerotia for the fresh sawdust weighed 15.6±3.9 grams; dry weight of sclerotia for the composted sawdust was 11.6±4.5 grams while that of the fresh sawdust was 8.2±3.0 grams. Composted sawdust is recommended for the cultivation of Pleurotus tuber-regium for production of sclerotia.Keywords: Pleurotus tuber-regium, Sclerotia sustainability, Fresh sawdust, Composted sawdus