CULTIVATION OF WILD PLEUROTUS SPECIES ON AGRICULTURAL SUBSTRATES AND EVALUATION OF THEIR NUTRITIONAL PROPERTIES.

Three wild isolates of Pleurotus were collected from different parts of north western Himalayas. Based on the morphological and cultural traits isolates were identified as i.eP.djamore ,P.ostreatus and Pleurotusflorida .These three species were cultivated on different locally available substrates in Himachal Pradesh. Different substrates used were paddy straw , wheat straw, soybean straw and maize stalks .All the species of Pleurotus performed well on Paddy straw and soybean straw..Highest protein content (2.50 mg/g) was found in P. ostreatus on soybean straw followed by Pleurotusflorida (2.32mg/g) on same substrate