Abstract
Pleurocybella porrigens (P. porrigens), an edible mushroom with high nutritional value, remains scarcely cultivated in Cameroon, primarily due to the lack of locally adapted spawn. Liquid spawn, though little studied in this context, represents a promising alternative to conventional solid spawn. This study evaluated the productivity of P. porrigens liquid spawn on different carbohydrate media (honey, glucose, fructose, sucrose), with or without iodized salt, and its ability to colonize crushed maize cobs. Mycelium was first isolated on PDA agar and subsequently inoculated into liquid media, incubated at 25–27 °C for 10 days. Five substrate treatments were tested, each with and without iodized salt. Parameters measured included Beginning of White Appearance (BWA), Major Substrate Colonization (MSC), and mycelial consistency at the first day (CWFD) and during major colonization (CMC), graded from + to ++++. Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics (version 28), with three replicates per treatment (n = 3). The mycelium exhibited nearly linear growth on PDA agar at an average rate of 1.59 cm/day (Y = 1.406X + 1.094; R² ≈ 1). In unsalted media, honey (A’3) and crushed cobs (A’5) promoted the earliest colonization (BWA: 2.00ᵇ and 1.00ᵃ; MSC: 2.00ᵇ and 1.00ᵃ), while other carbohydrate substrates (A’1, A’2, A’4) showed similar BWA (2.00ᵇ) but slower MSC (3.00ᶜ). In iodized media, honey (A3) maintained high efficiency (BWA = 3.00ᵃ; MSC = 3.00ᵃ), whereas glucose, fructose, and sucrose (A1, A2, A4) exhibited delayed colonization (BWA = 10.00ᵇ; MSC = 13.00ᶜ), and salted crushed cobs (A5) showed intermediate MSC (6.00ᵇ). Differences in BWA and MSC were statistically significant (p = 0.046 and 0.017). The addition of iodized salt improved mycelial consistency in honey and glucose media (p = 0.0214), and a significant interaction between substrate type and salt affected MSC (p = 0.0267). Finally, honey-based liquid spawn successfully colonized crushed maize cobs within 96 hours, forming a dense, homogeneous mycelial mat (CMC = ++++). Variations in growth rate and pigmentation suggest that partial caramelization of honey during processing may influence mycelial development. These findings confirm the strong potential of honey-based liquid spawn as an effective, low-cost, and locally adaptable strategy for mushroom production in Cameroon.
Keywords: Mycelial production, fungal spawn, liquid spawn, mycelial viability.