Effect of the cultivation substrate on production and qualitative aspects of Pleurotus ostreatus

For Pleurotus ostreatus cultivation, the type and composition of the substrate play an important role in the yield and the quality of production along with temperature, CO2 concentration, and other climatic factors. In this experiment, the effect of 4 different types of substrate (3 from Italian and 1 from Spanish companies) in 180 bags inoculated with mycelium P80 was studied. The highest cumulative pinhead formation was detected for the substrates A and B during the first flush (on average 80.5%) whereas the lowest value was shown by substrate C (58.0%). Besides, during the first flush pinheads production was shorter (5 days) than in the second flush when pinheads were produced in 15 days. In the first flush, yield was not statistically different for different substrates; instead in the second flush, substrate A showed the higher production (0.065 kg fresh mass kg-1 of dried substrate). Morphological characteristics of fruit bodies and color were affected by the type of substrate during all the three flushes. For biological efficiency (BE%) substrates A, B and D obtained values above 100%: 158, 117 and 102%, respectively, whereas it was only 86% for substrate C.