STUDIES ON CULTIVATION OF THE EDIBLE INDIGENOUS MUSHROOMS GROWN ON DIFFERENT AGRO-RESIDUES NAKALEMBE IMMACULATE SCHOOL OF BISECURITY, BIOTECHNICAL AND LABOARTORY SCIENCES, C DEPATRTMENT OF BIOMOLECULAR RESOURCES AND BIOLAB SCIENCE, SCHOOL OF BISECURITY, BIOTECHNICAL AND LABOARTORY SCIENCES, COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE, ANIMAL RESOURCES AND BIOSECURITY, MAKERERE UNIVERSITY Mushrooms are valued since time immemorial due to their nutritional, medicinal & culinary importance. Ancient people considered mushrooms as gifts from God Osiris (Sharma,2003). Of recent, there has been an increased interest in the wild mushrooms as they have been considered to be highly nutritious food items (FAO, 2004). They contain proteins (with all essential amino acids, specifically lycine), a good supplement to the cereals which are the major staple food for the poor. Furthermore, mushrooms have high fiber, carbohydrate, and minerals contents, cholesterol free, low fat (though with good quality essential fatty acids- omega-3), and low in calories. Growing value of mushrooms has led to an increased population of harvesters, who exploit and endanger this resource. Together with an increased population growth and climatic changes can lead to loss of this valued resource, thus requiring to sustainably exploit it by domesticating the edible wild mushrooms of social & economic interest. Uganda has got several documented edible wild mushrooms (Nakalembe et al, 2009), but there has been limited attempt to identify and domesticate them in order to preserve the biodiversity. Therefore, there is need to document and domesticate potential mushroom species in order to preserve their germplasm. Mushrooms grown well on several substrates, which can be recycled to produce high valued food such as mushrooms, animal feeds and fertilizers with simultaneous protection of the environment. Uganda being an agricultural country, stands a high chance of producing mushrooms which can directly improve the livelihoods of people economically, nutritionally and medicinally. 1. Exploration of the appropriate growth conditions of the priority wild mushroom species of the Albetrine region, Uganda 2. Assessment of the suitability of the locally available agro waste in the cultivation of these mushrooms under local conditions BACKGROUNDPURPOSE/ OBJECTIVE Wild mushrooms were collected from Bugoma Reserve Forest, Kyangwali S/County Hoima district Data collected: Assessment of the vegetative growth  Mycelia morphological description of the mycelia growth in the Kyangwali S/county, different culture media of different pH values at room temperature for 7 days.  Time taken for mycelia to fully cover the different culture media Mushroom production parameters: Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with six treatments & a control (cotton waste) with three replications  Spawn run period, pin head formation & the time for the fruit bodies to attain maturity (days)  Amount of mushrooms harvested per bag per flush (g/kg fresh wt)- total yield, Period btn flushes (days), Biological efficiency (%) Data was subjected to analysis of variance using Duncan multiple range test at 5% level of confidence, data presented as means of replicates MATERIALS AND METHODS 1.Nakalembe I, Kabasa D. & Olila (2009). Indigenous knowledge and usage of wild mushrooms in Mid-Western, Uganda. Afr. J. Anim. Biomed. Sc. 4 (2): Sharma, N Medicinal uses of macrofungi. Ethnobotany. 15: FAO Wild Edible Fungi, a Global overview of their use and importance to People. Non-Wood Forest Products 17. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome, Italy. PDA was the best for spawn production P. cornucopiae var. citrinopileatus and Pleurotus sp1 Bean straws and groundnut shells are the best substrates suitable for the mushrooms cultivation because of the short time to maturity and intervals between flushes, high yields and biological efficiency. Can be alternative substrates for control Need to adopt these indigenous species as protein sources while generating livelihood, contributing to food availability with simultaneous environmental protection ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: SPONSORS: MAKERERE-Sida BILATERAL RESEARCH COOPERATION Table 1Culture characteristics of two edible wild mushrooms on two culture media of different pH values at room temperature, for 7days PDA, Potato Dextrose Agar, MEA, Malt Extract Agar **Degree of mycelial density at full colonization of the substrate, (+++) mycelia grow throughout the whole bottle & is uniformly white RESULTS CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES Production room: well ventilated & disinfected, 23±1 o C, approx. 80%-90%. humidity, watered 3x/d, harvest Incubation room: disinfected, dark room, approx % humidity, o C temp. until the substrates were covered with the mycelia Preparation, bagging, pasteurization & inoculation of substrates (7 diff. agro-wastes), clean environment, 12.5g of spawn per 250g bag Mother spawn & planting spawn (sterile millet grain, sterile environment 2:1 (lime: gypsum), dark room, room temp, 14d Pure culture – subcultured: radial growth on PDA/MEA, of pH 5.5 and 6 7d (4 directions),, 3 wks A mature, fresh & health mushrooms (tissue culture) on PDA/MEA, room temperature, sterile environment Qualitative features: type of colony growth & density A series of subcultures, incubated at room temp., 10-15d Mushroom species with potential for domestication Days after inoculationRadial growth (cm/day)**Mycelial density* PDA pH 5.5PDA pH 6MEA pH 5.5MEA pH 6 Pleurotus sp2 (orange/Pink) P. cornucopiae var. citrinopileatus M/ speciesParameterSubstrates GNSB**SD**BP**CH **BSCW (C) Pleurotus sp2 (A)Spawn run completion Pinhead formation Maturity (fruit bodies) Between flushes P. cornucopiae var. citrinopileatus (B) Spawn run completion Pinhead formation Maturity (fruit bodies) Between flushes Table 2 Time (days) for spawn running completion, pinhead formation, fruiting body formation & the period between flushes of cultivated mushrooms on the different substrates GN= Groundnut shell, SB= sugarcane bagasse, SD=Saw dust, BP= Banana peelings, CH= coffee husks, BS= Bean straws, CW= Cotton waste * Degree of mycelial density when the mycelia fully colonises the substrate: (+) poor running growth, (+ +) mycelium grows throughout the whole bottle but is not uniformly white, (+ + +) mycelium grows throughout the whole bottle & is uniformly white ** Least substrates, species (B) takes shorter time on all substrates followed by (A), Although species (C) takes shorter time to complete spawn running with resultant heavy mycelia, failed to produce mushrooms, as are banana peelings & coffee husks for species (A) M/speciesSubstrate Flushes Total yield (wet wt) Total yield (dry wt) Biological efficiency 1 23 Pleurotus sp1 (orange/pink) Groundnut shells Sugarcane bagasse Saw dust NG Bean straws Cotton waste** P. cornucopiae var. citrinopileatus Groundnut shells Sugarbagasse Saw dust25 11NG Banana peelings NG Coffee husks Bean straws Cotton waste** NG= No growth, ** Control substrate, no growth was observed on banana peelings & coffee husks for Pleurotus sp1 Table 3 Yield & biological efficiency of the different mushroom species cultivated on the different substrates (N = 112), 250g bag for 60 days Figure 1 schematic presentation of mushroom growing procedures