Spent mushroom compost (SMC) of Pleurotus pulmonarius (an edible fungus) was used as soil conditioner for the improvement of growth of four common Nigerian vegetables (Abelmoschus esculentus, Lycopersicum esculentum, Capsicum annum and Capsicum chinense). The results of these investigations showed that the vegetables responded well to the SMC treatment. Each of them attained its best growth and...

BACKGROUND In Uganda, the chaff remaining from threshed panicles of millet and sorghum is a low value, lignocellulose-rich agricultural by-product. Currently, it is used as a substrate for the cultivation of edible Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus). The aim of this study was to assess the potential to exploit the residual post-harvest compost for saccharification and fermentation to produc...

Spent mushroom compost (SMC) substrates are commonly used as growth media for greenhouse crops and horticulture production. This study aimed to investigate the responses of physiochemical soil properties, enzyme activities, microbial community compositions different cultivation durations SMC treatments on tomatoes. The experiment included following treatments: substrate surrounding after planti...

Many reclaimed opencast coal-lands in Wales are now seriously degraded. This study explores the 10-year growth of native trees planted on compacted coal spoil. It compares relative benefits planting with spent mushroom compost (SMC) or well-rotted farmyard manure (FYM), both and without supplementary fertilizer. Four main tree species—Common Alder, Oak, Scots Pine Silver Birch—are considered. T...

Pilot-scale field-testing of passive bioreactors was performed to evaluate the efficiency of a mixture of four substrates (cow manure compost, mushroom compost, sawdust, and rice straw) relative to mushroom compost alone, and of the effect of the Fe/Mn ratio, during the treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) over a 174-day period. Three 141 L columns, filled with either mushroom compost or the f...

The human demand for protein-rich food is everincreasing which contributes to the expansion of mushroom industry in the world. Statistically, the word production of mushroom industry has reached a level greater than 25 million tons (Yang et al., 2015). In spite of many advantages, the production of mushrooms generates large volumes of solid waste products (called spent mushroom substrate) which...

The aim of this study was to develop a systematic quality index for application in the cultivation of Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Imbach mushrooms, based on the physical, chemical and biological properties (indicators) of the compost and casing layers (factors). The relative importance (weight) of each of the factors and indicators, their normalized scores, the quality index values and the correl...