Assessment of Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus spp.) Strains for Cultivation in Different Seasons

Abstract

Ten Pleurotus spp. Strains from the Thailand Mushroom Collection Centre were studied for yield performance during 2009-2010 at Chiangrai Horticultural Research Centre, the Upnorth of Thailand. The colony diameter of 10 strains on potato dextrose agar (PDA) were measured after 7 days of inoculation. Substrate bags were prepared from the mixtures of pararubber sawdust, rice bran, lime, gypsum powder and Mg2SO4 at the ratio of 100 : 8 : 1 : 1 : 0.2% by weight, respectively and water was added to make 60% moisture. The mycelial lengths on substrate bags were measured after 15 days incubation at room temperature. Strain no 3 and no 5 were two strains that gave the highest lengths of mycelia on both PDA and pararubber substrates. However, only strain no 5 gave high yield during fruiting period. There are distinguish performances on yield from each strain in different seasons. Strain no 17,18,13,6,2 and no 5 were six strains that gave the best yield during summer, while strain no 13 and no 17 were the best during winter. Strain no 5,12 and no 15 gave high yield during rainy season. However, strain no 17 is already the recommended strain of the Department of Agriculture which was registered as Pleurotus no 1: Nang-rom Hungary no 1.