Abstract
Oyster mushrooms are regarded as one of the most significant edible mushrooms in terms of commercial value because of their rich nutritional profile. Many bioactive extracts from Pleurotus species have been found to exhibit antitumor and antioxidant activities. However, to grow oyster mushrooms in this study, the pasteurized Cenchrus fungigraminus was used as culture material, a type of grass that proliferates and has a high root growth rate. It contains high levels of sugar and protein and yields a large amount of biomass. Because of these characteristics, it is considered an efficient and cost-effective energy crop with various applications, including phytoremediation and fodder production. A pasteurization technique for this grass that is suited for the simplest formulation is simple and cost-effective for growing oyster mushrooms on small farms. This study used pasteurized Cenchrus fungigraminus as a substrate to grow three mushroom species: Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus pulmonarius and Pleurotus florida. The aim was to evaluate their enzyme activities, growth rate, and yields. The findings demonstrated that the average growth rate of three species grown in pasteurized C. fungigraminus was between 25 days and 36 days. Therefore, the mycelium growth rate of P. ostreatus was faster than other pleurotus species in this study. The highest biological efficiency was recorded with P. ostreatus at 78.23%, then P. pulmonarius at 59.88, and lastly, 39.66% P. florida. The changes in five enzyme activities in distinct developmental stages of three different pleurotus species were evaluated. Therefore, the laccase had the highest peak with 13.8 U/g on the 20th day during the growth phase and gradually decreased to the fruiting body stage of P. ostreatus. The expression of manganese peroxidase reached the highest activity of 3.6 U/g in P. ostreatus compared to P. florida and P. pulmonarius on the 10th day. The expression of other enzymes varied between species and developmental phases. The results indicate the usefulness of pasteurized C. fungigraminus for cultivating Pleurotus species and expression enzyme activity in different Pleurotus species.