Cultivation of Abalone Mushroom with Leftover Earleaf Acacia Sawdust from Zebra Dove Cage Making Industry

Abstract

Earleaf acacia (Acacia auriculiformis) is an important material in the zebra dove (Geopelia striata) cage industry for making hanging hooks which have to be delicately turned by wood lathes causing sawdust in the production process. This research was to study the feasibility of using leftover earleaf acacia sawdust from zebra dove cage making process as an abalone mushroom (Pleurotus abalonus) substrate material. In this study, para rubber sawdust and earleaf acacia sawdust were mixed at different ratios (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:100 and 0:100), fermented for 14 days and then packed into plastic bags to obtain 1 kg mushroom substrate blocks. The abalone mushroom spawn was inoculated into the substrates which were incubated in the dark at room temperature for 45 days for observing mycelium growth. There was no statistically significant difference in mycelium growth in different substrates. After the fruiting body induction, abalone mushroom was harvested at 20, 40 and 60 days for analyzing mushroom quantity and quality. It was found that the different ratios of para rubber sawdust and earleaf acacia sawdust significantly affected fresh weight, cap width, height and maturity of fruiting bodies. The abalone mushroom cultivated with the substrate with a ratio of para rubber sawdust and earleaf acacia sawdust of 50:50 exhibited the highest fresh weight, cap width, height and maturity of fruiting bodies at all periods of the study. This research demonstrates the possibility of increasing the value of earleaf acacia sawdust which is a waste material from the zebra dove cage making industry by using it as an abalone mushroom substrate material.