IMPROVEMENT OF THE BIOCONVERSION AND BIOTRANSFORMATION EFFICIENCIES OF THE OYSTER MUSHROOM (PLEUROTUS-SAJOR-CAJU) BY SUPPLEMENTATION OF ITS RICE STRAW SUBSTRATE WITH OIL SEED CAKES

Supplementing the rice straw substrate colonized by the mushroom, Pleurotus sajor-caju, with powdered oil seed cakes (mustard, niger, sunflower, cotton, and soyabean) increased the mushroom yields between 50 and 100%, compared to the unsupplemented substrate. Oil seed cake supplementation also effected an increase in the solubility of the rice straw substrate; there was an increase in the contents of free sugars and amino acids, and a decrease in cellulo-hemicellulosics. Correspondingly, there was also an increase in the activities of carboxymethylcellulase, hemicellulase, and protease. In vitro dry matter enzymatic digestibility measured by two-step enzymatic digestibility of the spent straw (material remaining from the straw substrate, supplemented with the oil seed cakes), indicated a significant increase over that of the spent straw derived from the unsupplemented lot.