The purpose of this work was to evaluate the influence of the chemical composition of the substrate in the cultivation of the edible mushroom Pleurotus florida. Six agricultural by-products were tested: rice straw, bean straw, wheat straw, banana leaf, sorghum straw and maize cobs. Using bean straw as the substrate showed similar results for yield (189.8 g kg-1), biological efficiency (89.2%) and number of mushrooms (12) as rice straw substrates traditionally used for the cultivation of Pleurotus on a commercial scale. It was not possible to attribute the high yields and biological efficiency observed in rice and bean straw solely to chemical factors and, even less so for the low yields presented by sorghum straw (77.8 g kg-1) and maize cobs (53.2 g kg-1). In general, substrates with C/N ratio around 45 (N = 1.0%), high ash content and high levels of P, K, Ca, Mg and Mn were the best for the cultivation of P. florida.
Oyster mushroom; agricultural waste; biological efficiency; production
