Can Fluted Pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis) Hook.f. Serve as Supplement for Production of Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus floridanus) Singer?

Abstract

Supplement in mushroom production boosts yield. Fluted pumpkin parts were assessed as an alternative to wheat bran as supplement in mushroom production. Sawdust, lime and wheat bran or fluted pumpkin (Pod, seed, stem) were mixed in ratio 180: 1: 30. There were 10 replicates for each treatment. The design was completely randomized blocked design. The results showed that supplemented sawdust with wheat bran had higher value for the dry weight with significant difference from treatments with pumpkin parts in some flushes and none in other flushes Supplemented sawdust with mixture of all supplements was highest in Ash (14.30%) and moisture (24.75%). Protein and lipids values were highest for supplemented sawdust with wheat bran and significantly different (p<0.05) from other treatments. Sawdust supplemented with fluted pumpkin stem (28.06%) had highest value for carbohydrates while that supplemented with pod had (21.16%), the highest for fiber. For minerals, K (794.50 mg/kg), Ca (349.75 mg/kg), and Na (379.50 mg/kg) were highest for Fluted Pumpkin Seed Supplement, Fluted Pumpkin Pod Supplement and No Supplement respectively. In conclusion, Fluted pumpkin pod and stem compares very well with wheat bran supplement, and can serve as supplement in the production of oyster mushroom.