Evaluation of the effects of the chemical composition of wood as substrate on the yield and quality of mushrooms

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2005-11-09
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The sawdust of three Ghanaian wood species namely “Wawa”, Ceiba and “Ofram” were collected. They were analyzed for moisture content, cellulose, herniceilulose, lignin, total extractives, nitrogen content, hydrogen ion concentration, minerals and heavy metals. Compost was prepared from the wood species and mushroom cultivated on them. The quality of the mi corns produced was found by determining the nutritional value and the minerals and heavy metals content. The yield was calculated by expressing the amount of mushroom produced per 100 g of dried wood substrate as percentage. The moisture content was found to be 10.44% for Wawa, 14.54% for Ofram and 7.60% for the Ceiba. For the major constituents of wood namely, lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose, it was found that Wawa had 46.76% cellulose, 15.69% hemicellulose and 27.55% lignin. Ofram had 46.64% cellulose, 16.29% hemicellulose and 31.17% lignin. Ceiba showed 44.78% cellulose, 15.32% hemicellulose and 34.08% lignin. Compost was made from each of the wood species and used for the mushroom production. Wawa bad the highest total mushroom yield (63.59%), followed by Ofram (53:70%) and Ceiba (34.88%). The mushrooms produced were analyzed for carbohydrate protein content, fiber content fat content, mineral and heavy metals content. The mushrooms produced on the ‘Wawa wood had 18.20% protein, 1.72% fat and 82.53% carbohydrate. Ofram had 1633% protein, 1.67% fat and 40.86% carbohydrate. Ceiba had 17.07% protein, 2.07% fat and 48.44% carbohydrate. Heavy metals such as cadmium, copper, manganese and zinc, were in the mushrooms, wood samples and the spent substrate bit their concentrations were found to be below the tolerable limits given ‘by’ the WHO/FAO joint committees. The cellulose, hemicellulose and the lignin contents were found to be lower in the spent substrates than in the wood samples. This means these substances were degraded in the process of the mushroom cultivation.
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A thesis presented to the Department of Chemistry in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Master of Science in Organic Chemistry, 2005
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