Abstract
Reutilization of food waste is expected to establish a social system in which all kinds of waste are recycled. We investigated the utilization of fermented food waste as a substrate for a nutrient of sawdust cultivation of an edible mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus. When Pleurotus ostreatus was cultured with a medium consisting of sawdust and rice bran (3:0.5 involume), the addition of the food waste to the medium at 6.4% of total volume gave similar cultivation time and fruit body yield to the standard medium (sawdust:rice bran=3:1). Pleurotus ostreatus was cultured with only sawdust, the addition of the food waste at 19% gave similar fruit body yield to the standard medium, but cultivation time was prolonged, as can be expected from the decreased growth rate of the mycelia. Harvested fruit bodies did not differ in shape and color from those obtained with the standard medium. The cultivation time was decreased by mixing perlite which would improve aeration in the medium. These results indicate that the food waste can be used for commercial cultivation of Pleurotus ostreatus.
