COMPARISON OF GROWTH AND YIELD PERFORMANCES OF PLEUROTUS FLORIDA CULTIVATED ON ANOGEISSUS LEIOCARPUS (ANYI) AND CASSIA SIAMEA(CASSIA) AS SUBSTRATES

Mushroom cultivation in Nigeria is limited by the choice of suitable substrates, as sawdust from different tree species varies in nutrient composition and may affect growth and yield. This study compared the growth and yield performance of Pleurotus florida on different ratios of Anogeissusleiocarpus (Anyi) and Cassia siamea (Cassia) sawdust. The experiment was conducted at the Departmental Mushroom House of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Adekunle Ajasin University. Substrates were formulated by mixing sawdust with wheat bran (20%), chalk (2%), and gypsum (1.21%). The mixtures were moistened, bagged (500 g each), sterilized, cooled, and aseptically inoculated with 50g of spawn. Five treatments were applied: T1 (0% A. leiocarpus + 100% C. siamea), T2 (25% A. leiocarpus + 75% C. siamea), T3 (50% A. leiocarpus + 50% C. siamea), T4 (75% A. leiocarpus + 25% C. siamea), and T5 (100% A. leiocarpus + 0% C. siamea), each treatment was replicated four times. Growth and yield parameters measured included days required for complete mycelial running (DRCMR), days to pinhead formation (DPF), days to harvest (DTH), number of fruiting bodies (NFB), Fresh Weight (FW), Dry Weight (DW), and biological efficiency (BE). Results revealed that T2 recorded the shortest period for mycelial colonization and pinhead initiation with the value 23.50 and 30.75 respectively, T1 had the shortest days to first harvest (34 days), while T5 exhibited the slowest growth in term of yield which took 37 days. T5 and T1 produced the highest number of fruiting bodies (9.00 each) and biological efficiency which was 7.33% and 7.04% respectively. Whereas, T3 recorded the lowest performance both in the number of fruiting bodies which was (7.00) and the biological efficiency which had 6.20%. The highest fresh weight was recorded in T5 (20.08g) and the lowest was obtained in T3 (17.10g), the highest dry weight was obtained in T1 and T5 with the value of 2.62 and 2.60 respectively. The lowest dry weight was obtained in T3 (2.28g). In conclusion, the study demonstrated that varying ratios of Anogeissus. leiocarpus and Cassia siamea sawdust significantly influenced the growth and yield of Pleurotus florida. Optimizing the combination of these substrates can provide a sustainable approach to mushroom production and effective utilization of sawmill residues.