Evaluation of Alternate Substrate Pasteurization Techniques for Culinary-Medicinal White Oyster Mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus var. florida (Agaricomycetideae) Cultivation.

Abstract

Three traditional substrate pasteurization methods (chemical, steam, and hot water) and seven alternate methods (solarization, botanicals, and sanitizers) were evaluated for the cultivation of culinary-medicinal white oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus var. florida. The investigation was undertaken to scientifically evaluate current methods and to educate farmers to adopt appropriate methods that will not only prevent contamination and give optimal yields, but that will also be eco-friendly and pose no health hazards to the workers. Steam pasteurization (80°C, 2 h) was found to be the most efficient method and showed the highest biological efficiency (BE) at 82.8%, followed by the hot water method (80°C, 60 min) with BE at 77.6%. The chemical sterilization technique (500 ppm formaldehyde +75 ppm carbendazim-Bavistin) showed 49.6% BE and solarization 34.7% BE. All other treatments showed low BE. The hot-water, chemical sterilization, and solarization techniques were the most effective in preventing competitor molds.