Preliminary Assessment of Growing Oyster Mushroom, Pleurotus Sajor-Caju on Coconut Husk Substrate Supplemented with Different Am

Home , Mushroom

Preliminary Assessment of Growing Oyster Mushroom, Pleurotus sajor-caju on Coconut Husk Substrate Supplemented with Different Amounts of Copra Cake Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Volume 12 Issue 4 2019 STEP-UP Special Issue Article 25

2018

Preliminary Assessment of Growing Oyster Mushroom, Pleurotus sajor-caju on Coconut Husk Substrate Supplemented with Different Amounts of Copra Cake

Unaisi Grace Kuilamu Vincent Enriquez, MA , USDA-NIFA Cooperative Research and Extension Program, College of the Marshall Islands

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/jhdrp

Part of the Medicine and Health Sciences Commons

Recommended Citation Kuilamu, Unaisi Grace and Enriquez, MA, Vincent (2018) "Preliminary Assessment of Growing Oyster Mushroom, Pleurotus sajor-caju on Coconut Husk Substrate Supplemented with Different Amounts of Copra Cake," Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice: Vol. 12 : Iss. 4 , Article 25. Available at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/jhdrp/vol12/iss4/25

This Article is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Article in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself.

This Article has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Preliminary Assessment of Growing Oyster Mushroom, Pleurotus sajor-caju on Coconut Husk Substrate Supplemented with Different Amounts of Copra Cake

Abstract Mushroom cultivation is a newly introduced technology in the Marshall Islands to promote food security and community health due to its soluble fiber content and nutritive values. Mushroom is also known to have naturally occurring beta-glucans that could prevent high cholesterol and some other non- communicable disease (NCDs). Majuro Atoll has an ample amount of coconut husk and copra cake, a by- product from Tobolar Copra Processing Plant. The study aimed to assess the possibility of using copra cake for mushroom cultivation.

The capability of oyster mushroom in utilizing coconut by-product was assessed in terms of mycelial growth, number of fruiting body, cap diameter and biological efficiency conversion (BEC). The mushroom growing media used for this study were composed of shredded coconut husk, dolomitic lime, brown sugar and varying amounts (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%) of copra cake with 45-60% moisture content. It was hypothesized that copra cake supplementation will increase production yield. Treatments were distributed in 10 replications and data were analyzed using the Duncan’s Multiple Test Range at 5% level of significance.

Mycelial growth occurred in all treatments in the following order: 10%> 0%, 5%, 15% >20% >25%. Thin mycelial growth occurred at 0%, and slowest growth was observed for 25%. Fruiting bodies did not take place for treatment without copra cake supplementation (0%). The overall growth performance was observed to be very favorable at 10% copra cake supplementation. This result suggests that coconut husk supplemented with the right amount of copra cake could be utilized effectively as locally available materials for mushroom cultivation.

Keywords mycelial growth; supplementation; mushroom cultivation; copra cake

Cover Page Footnote The STEP-UP HS program is supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, Grant number: R25DK78386-12.

This article is available in Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/ jhdrp/vol12/iss4/25 39 Preliminary Assessment of Growing Oyster Mushroom, Pleurotus sajor-caju on Coconut Husk Substrate Supplemented with Different Amounts of Copra Cake Kuilamu and Enriquez

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice Volume 12, STEP-UP Special Issue, Summer 2019, pp. 39-40 © 2011 Center for Health Disparities Research School of Public Health University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Preliminary Assessment of Growing Oyster Mushroom, Pleurotus sajor-caju on Coconut Husk Substrate Supplemented with Different Amounts of Copra Cake

Unaisi Grace Kuilamu Vincent Enriquez, MA, USDA-NIFA Cooperative Research and Extension Program, College of the Marshall Islands Coordinating Center: University of Hawai’i John A. Burns School of Medicine

ABSTRACT Mushroom cultivation is a newly introduced technology in the Marshall Islands to promote food security and community health due to its soluble fiber content and nutritive values. Mushroom is also known to have naturally occurring beta-glucans that could prevent high cholesterol and some other non-communicable disease (NCDs). Majuro Atoll has an ample amount of coconut husk and copra cake, a by-product from Tobolar Copra Processing Plant. The study aimed to assess the possibility of using copra cake for mushroom cultivation. The capability of oyster mushroom in utilizing coconut by-product was assessed in terms of mycelial growth, number of fruiting body, cap diameter and biological efficiency conversion (BEC). The mushroom growing media used for this study were composed of shredded coconut husk, dolomitic lime, brown sugar and varying amounts (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%) of copra cake with 45-60% moisture content. It was hypothesized that copra cake supplementation will increase production yield. Treatments were distributed in 10 replications and data were analyzed using the Duncan’s Multiple Test Range at 5% level of significance. Mycelial growth occurred in all treatments in the following order: 10%> 0%, 5%, 15% >20% >25%. Thin mycelial growth occurred at 0%, and slowest growth was observed for 25%. Fruiting bodies did not take place for treatment without copra cake supplementation (0%). The overall growth performance was observed to be very favorable at 10% copra cake supplementation. This result suggests that coconut husk supplemented with the right amount of copra cake could be utilized effectively as locally available materials for mushroom cultivation.

Keywords: mycelial growth, supplementation, mushroom cultivation, copra cake

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice Volume 12, STEP-UP Special Issue, Summer 2019 http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/jhdrp/ Follow on Facebook: Health.Disparities.Journal Follow on Twitter: @jhdrp 40 Preliminary Assessment of Growing Oyster Mushroom, Pleurotus sajor-caju on Coconut Husk Substrate Supplemented with Different Amounts of Copra Cake Kuilamu and Enriquez

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The STEP-UP HS program is supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, Grant number: R25DK78386-12.