A Comparative Analysis of Agricultural Substrates for Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus spp.) Cultivation

Abstract

This study evaluates the growth, yield, and nutritional composition of Pleurotus spp. (Blue-H oyster mushrooms) cultivated on six different agricultural substrates: soybean straw, wheat straw, sugarcane bagasse, cow dung, tea powder, and vermicompost. Results revealed that soybean straw exhibited the highest performance across all parameters including colonization time, fruiting body size, and yield. In contrast, tea powder was found unsuitable due to poor growth and yield. These findings highlight the significance of substrate selection for sustainable and economical mushroom farming.