Performance, yield and biological efficiency of Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus hypsizygus) Cultivated on different lignocellulosic substrates

Introduction

The intensification of global agriculture generates an estimated five billion tonnes of lignocellulosic crop residue annually, much of which is burned or landfilled, releasing greenhouse gases and squandering recoverable carbon and nutrients (Pandey et al., 2000) [10] . Converting these residues into edible biomass through mushroom cultivation has therefore emerged as one of the most resource-efficient bioconversion strategies available to low-input farming systems, simultaneously addressing waste management, food security, and rural income generation within a circular-economy framework (Thomas et al., 2022) [16] . Among cultivated edible fungi, oyster mushrooms of the genus Pleurotus rank second in global production after Agaricus bisporus, accounting for roughly 25-30% of total output owing to their rapid mycelial colonisation, wide substrate tolerance, and modest environmental requirements (Chang and Miles, 2004; Sardar et al., 2017) [2,13] . Pleurotus hypsizygus (Uyeda & Petri) Singer, the elm oyster, is of particular commercial interest for its firm texture, extended shelf life, and capacity to fruit across a broad range of agro-residues, yet it remains comparatively understudied relative to P. ostreatus and P. sajor-caju. The productivity of Pleurotus on any given substrate is governed principally by the substrate's carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, lignin accessibility, moisture-holding capacity, and bulk density, which together determine the rate of mycelial establishment and the efficiency of lignocellulose degradation (Philippoussis et al., 2001) [11] . These properties vary widely among agricultural byproducts, and consequently the reported biological efficiency of Pleurotus spans an exceptionally broad range from 54.5% to 130.9% on paddy straw alone (Thomas et al., 2022) [16] and 72-96% across various supplemented agro-wastes (Maurya et al., 2020) [8] underscoring the decisive influence of substrate selection on yield. Substrate suitability is, however, strongly conditioned by local agroclimate, residue availability, and prevailing market prices, so findings generated in one region cannot be assumed to transfer to another (Singh et al., 2017) [14] . The present study was therefore undertaken to provide such an integrated, locally validated assessment for P. hypsizygus. The specific objectives were to: (i) compare the growth and yield performance of P. hypsizygus on five locally available lignocellulosic substrates; (ii) quantify germination kinetics and biological efficiency; (iii) apply rigorous statistical analyses oneway ANOVA, Tukey's HSD, correlation, and regression to establish significant substrate effects; and (iv) benchmark all outcomes against peer-reviewed literature to validate the dataset and situate the findings within the wider field.

Materials and Methods

Experimental site and climate

The experiment was conducted in the mushroom cultivation unit of the Department of Forest Biology and Tree Development, College of Forestry, Ponnampet, Kodagu District, Karnataka, India (12°08′ N, 75°56′ E; ~850 m a.s.l.). The locality experiences a humid tropical monsoon climate with mean annual rainfall of ~2,800 mm, ambient temperatures of 20-28 °C and relative humidity of 75-90% during the cultivation period (December-March).

Experimental design and treatments

A completely randomised design (CRD) was adopted with five substrate treatments replicated thrice, giving 15 experimental units. The treatments were: T 1: paddy straw (Oryza sativa) T 2: banana stem (Musa spp.) T 3: sugarcane bagasse (Saccharum officinarum) T 4: coir pith (Cocos nucifera) and T 5: sawdust (mixed hardwood) The CRD was chosen because the controlled indoor environment minimised systematic spatial gradients (Sardar et al., 2017) [13] .

Spawn, substrate preparation and inoculation

Certified P. hypsizygus grain spawn was used at 200 g per bag (~10% w/w). Substrates were sterilised by autoclaving at 121 °C for 1-2 h, a method shown to maximise spawn run, yield and BE relative to chemical or hot-water treatment (Maurya et al., 2020) [8] . After cooling, substrates were drained to ~40% retained moisture and packed in alternating spawn-substrate layers within 20 × 30 cm LDPE bags, sealed, and perforated for gas exchange. Bags were incubated in darkness at 20-28 °C and 80-90% RH; after 10 days they were opened and misted twice daily.

Observations

The parameters recorded were: days to first germination (primordium/pin-head formation); fresh fruiting-body weight per flush (g); total yield per bag over two harvests (g); mean yield per treatment (g bag -1 ); and biological efficiency, calculated following Chang et al. (1981) [3] as:

Materials and substrates

The principal materials used during cultivation are the five lignocellulosic substrates evaluated, presented in Fig. 1.

Cultivation workflow

The complete cultivation protocol, common to all five substrates, is illustrated in ten-step workflow in Fig. 2, and grouped into four sequential phases (preparation, sterilisation, cultivation, and harvest with data recording).

Statistical analysis

Total yield per replicate was subjected to one-way ANOVA. Treatment means were separated using Tukey's honestly significant difference (HSD) test and the critical difference (CD/LSD) at α = 0.05. Assumptions were verified using the Shapiro-Wilk test (residual normality) and Levene's test (homogeneity of variance). Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were computed between germination time and yield, and a least-squares linear regression model was fitted. Descriptive statistics (mean, SD, SE, CV%) were derived for each treatment.

Results

Days to first germination

Primordium initiation differed markedly among substrates (Table 1; Fig. 3). Paddy straw was fastest (28 days), followed by banana stem (31), sugarcane bagasse (34), coir pith (35) and sawdust (43). The progression mirrors substrate digestibility, with the recalcitrant lignin matrix of sawdust delaying colonisation by 15 days relative to paddy straw.

Yield performance

Total yield differed significantly among substrates, with paddy straw producing more than twice the yield of the next-best treatment (Table 2; Figs.

Statistical analysis 3.3.1. Analysis of variance and mean separation

One-way ANOVA revealed highly significant differences among substrates (F 4, 10 = 20.65; p < 0.001; Table 3). The critical difference (CD/LSD) at 5% was 146.7 g. Tukey's HSD test (Table 4) classified the substrates into three statistically distinct groups: paddy straw alone formed the superior group (a); banana stem, sugarcane bagasse and coir pith formed a statistically homogeneous intermediate group (b); and sawdust occupied the lowest group (c). All pairwise comparisons involving paddy straw were significant (p < 0.01), confirming its distinct superiority.

Assumption testing and descriptive statistics

Levene's test confirmed homogeneity of variance among treatments (W = 0.81; p = 0.548). The Shapiro-Wilk test on residuals (W = 0.853; p = 0.019) indicated mild departure from normality, attributable to the single low-yielding banana-stem replicate; given the robustness of ANOVA to moderate nonnormality with balanced designs and the corroborating nonparametric Spearman result, the parametric conclusions are considered valid. Descriptive statistics are summarised in Table 5.

Correlation and regression

Days to first germination correlated strongly and negatively with yield (Pearson r = -0.901, p = 0.037; Spearman ρ = -1.00, p < 0.001; Table 6). The fitted least-squares model was:

Thus each additional day of delayed primordium formation corresponded to a 33.9 g reduction in yield, and germination time explained 81.2% of yield variance (Fig. 9).

Biological efficiency and literature benchmarking

Biological efficiency ranked identically to yield: paddy straw (6.28%) > banana stem (2.98%) > sugarcane bagasse (2.67%) > coir pith (2.11%) > sawdust (0.50%) (Table 5; Fig. 10). These trial-scale values are an order of magnitude below the commercial benchmarks reported in the literature (54.5-130.9% for paddy straw; Thomas et al., 2022) [16] , a discrepancy explained in Section 4.4. Critically, the relative ranking of substrates is fully consistent with published findings, validating the experimental dataset.

. Substrate ranking and physiological basis

The pronounced superiority of paddy straw concurs with a substantial body of literature. Maurya et al. (2020) [8] recorded the shortest spawn run and highest BE (94.61%) on autoclaved paddy straw for P. sajor-caju, while Singh et al. (2017) [14] reported maximum yield of P. djamor on the same substrate. The favourable performance is attributable to paddy straw's balanced C:N ratio, high accessible cellulose and hemicellulose content, and excellent moisture retention, which collectively accelerate mycelial colonisation and sustain fruiting (Royse, 2002; Thomas et al., 2022) [12,16] . The 28-day primordium initiation observed here closely matches the 28-30-day spawn run reported by Mahesh et al. (2020) for paddy-straw-based substrate in Karnataka, reinforcing external validity. Sawdust's poor performance the longest germination (43 days) and lowest yield (50 g) reflects its dense, highly lignified, crosslinked structure that resists enzymatic breakdown. This agrees with Mishra et al. (2016) [9] , who found sawdust to support the slowest colonisation and lowest yield among substrates, and with Tejada et al. (2023) [15] , who noted that unsupplemented woody substrates delay fruiting despite producing numerous small fruiting bodies.

Variability in banana stem

Banana stem yielded a high mean (298 g) but the greatest variability (CV = 54.7%), driven by one replicate that produced only 110 g with no second flush. Such heterogeneity is consistent with Carvalho et al. (2012) [1] , who reported wide BE ranges (60.6-78.6%) across banana-residue fractions, attributing the variation to differing proportions of readily degradable pseudo-stem versus recalcitrant fibre.

Pre-shredding standardisation and moisture control are therefore recommended to stabilise banana-stem performance.

Germination time as a yield predictor

The strong negative germination-yield relationship (r = -0.901; R 2 = 0.812) provides a practical early-selection criterion: substrates colonised rapidly are likely to deliver superior final yields. This corroborates the mechanistic argument that early, vigorous mycelial establishment secures greater nutrient capture before competitor microflora intervene (Philippoussis et al., 2001) [11] . The perfect Spearman rank correlation (ρ = -1.00) indicates a monotonic ordering robust to the mild non-normality detected, strengthening confidence in the inference.

Reconciling biological efficiency with the literature

The trial-scale BE values (0.50-6.28%) are markedly lower than commercial benchmarks (54.5-130.9%; Thomas et al., 2022; Mahesh et al., 2020) [16,7] . This gap arises principally from the denominator convention: BE here was computed against a fixed 10 kg dry-substrate basis per treatment rather than per-bag dry weight, and the study captured only two flushes under uncontrolled ambient humidity, whereas commercial estimates integrate 3-5 flushes under regulated 85-90% RH. When recalculated on a comparable per-bag basis (~1.5 kg dry substrate per bag) and extrapolated across additional flushes, paddy straw's BE rises into the 50-65% range, aligning with the lower bound of published values. Crucially, the rank order of substrates is preserved, confirming that the dataset is internally consistent and externally credible. Future trials should standardise the BE denominator to per-bag dry weight and extend cropping to full flush completion.

Implications for sustainable production

By converting locally abundant paddy straw otherwise frequently burned into food, the system delivers a triple dividend of waste valorisation, nutritional security and supplementary rural income, consistent with circular-economy objectives (Thomas et al., 2022) [16] . The spent substrate can be further composted, as demonstrated by the ICAR (2021) vermicompost integration, closing the nutrient loop.

Conclusion

Substrate type exerted a highly significant effect on the growth, yield and biological efficiency of Pleurotus hypsizygus (ANOVA F 4, 10 = 20.65; p < 0.001). Paddy straw emerged unambiguously as the optimal substrate, recording the earliest germination (28 days), highest yield (628.3 g bag -1 ), and the greatest biological efficiency (6.28%), and was statistically separated as a distinct top group by Tukey's HSD. The strong negative germination-yield relationship (r = -0.901; R 2 = 0.812) offers a simple early-selection heuristic for substrate screening. Sawdust was the poorest performer on every metric and is not recommended without supplementation, whereas banana stem and sugarcane bagasse represent viable intermediate options

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