Abstract 88

Evaluation of tea waste as an alternative substrate for oyster
mushroom cultivation
Paper Presenter: Nalini devi Chukowry(miss), Agricultural Research and Extension Unit
Author: Rita Devi Nowbuth(miss), Agricultural Research and Extension Unit
Mushrooms, belonging to the Kingdom Fungi can be classified into four categories – edible
mushrooms, medicinal mushrooms, poisonous mushrooms and other mushrooms whose
properties are less well defined (Chang, 1993). Edible mushrooms can be wild, fleshy
mushrooms which are collected from nature, for example, Agaricus campestris (meadow
mushroom) or they may be cultivated, for example Pleurotus spp. (oyster mushrooms).
Mushrooms are becoming an important component of the Mauritian cuisine. The local mushroom
industry heavily relies on imports which in year 2007 amounted to Rs. 40 million. Mushrooms
are imported in different forms-fresh, chilled, canned, dried and frozen (Huzar Futty, 2003).
The Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU) is responsible for research on cultivation of
mushrooms such as oyster mushroom, shiitake mushroom, milky mushroom, ganoderma
mushroom and wood ear mushroom. Local researches in mushroom cultivation are also targeted
towards identification of suitable substrates for mushroom cultivation and mutation breeding of
oyster mushroom.
Oyster mushroom is cultivated on a bagasse based substrate consisting of 80% sugarcane
bagasse, 10% lime and 10% crushed maize seeds on dry weight basis. Local mushroom
growers are heavily dependent on sugarcane bagasse purchased from sugar factories since it is
the only agro waste available in sufficiently large amounts.
The main constraint being faced by local mushroom growers is the decreasing availability and
increasing purchase cost of sugarcane bagasse. This is mainly due to its use for electricity
production in addition to the decrease in acreage of sugar cane cultivations. Thus, an urgent
need has been felt to identify suitable alternative substrates for oyster mushroom cultivation.
The aim of this study was to evaluate tea wastes as a potential alternative substrate for oyster
mushroom cultivation. The aim is to evaluate tea waste as a potential alternative substrate as
complete or partial replacement of sugarcane bagasse as substrate for mushroom production.
Initially, growth of oyster mushroom mycelium was studied on Potato Dextrose Agar containing
tea wastes extract. It was observed that addition of tea waste extract to the culturing medium
did not prevent mycelial growth. There on, an in vitro trial was carried out to assess mycelial
growth of substrate mixtures containing different proportions of tea waste and sugarcane
bagasse was assessed. In this experiment, the tea waste was subjected to different treatments
such as boiling, soaking and humidification. The main reason of including bagasse to the
substrate mixture is due to the cellulose and hemicelluloses content of the latter whereas
chemical analysis of tea waste showed its high concentration of nitrogen though it contains
insufficient amounts of cellulose and hemicelluloses. Fruiting bags were prepared with
substrates composed of different proportions of tea waste and sugarcane bagasse. Mycelial
growth and mushroom production were assessed. As a result of this trial, the promising
substrate mixture identified and found to be 75% sugarcane bagasse and 25% tea waste. The
effect of lime and crushed maize seeds were then assessed independently on these promising
substrate mixtures.
The overall results of the set of trials carried out showed that the antifungal substances
contained in tea waste slowed the mycelial growth and changed its growth patterns. Treatments
such as soaking and boiling the tea wastes promoted showed faster mycelial growth as
compared to when the tea waste was humidified. Substrate mixture containing 75% sugarcane
bagasse and 25% tea waste showed promising results in terms of mycelial growth and
fructification. This substrate mixture was selected for further trials with lime and crushed maize.
Highest yield of mushroom was obtained with substrate mixture supplemented with 5% lime.
When assessed with crushed maize seeds, the substrate mixture gave the highest yield at 0%
crushed maize. This is probably due to the fact that tea waste is rich in nitrogen (0.43%/g of
dry matter) and the use of crushed maize as a source of nitrogen is non significant.
It is concluded that tea waste can be successfully used to cultivate oyster mushroom when
mixed with sugarcane bagasse. Substrate mixture containing 75% sugarcane bagasse and 25%
tea waste, supplemented with 6.1% lime, can yield about 202.9 g of mushroom. The elimination
of crushed maize in the preparation of growing substrate will further decrease the cost of
fruiting bag production. This substrate mixture can be proposed to growers and some further
studies will be carried out to evaluate the possibility of using tea waste with other substrates
like grasses and banana leaves among others.
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Evaluation of tea waste as an alternative substrate for oyster

Author: Rita Devi Nowbuth(miss), Agricultural Research and Extension Unit

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