Evaluation of Different Culture Media on the Mycelial Proliferation of Pleurotus ostreatus In Vitro

Pleurotus ostreatus, an edible species of mushroom, has a wide range of responses on mycelium growth to varying ranges of culture media. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of seven different culture media viz. corn meal agar, oat meal agar, WEA, synthetic potato dextrose agar, conventional potato dextrose agar, carrot root extract, and rice bran agar on the mycelial growth of P. ostreatus. They were evaluated under in vitro in completely randomized design with 5 replications at the plant pathology laboratory of institute of agriculture and animal science, Paklihawa, Nepal. The radial mycelium growth of P. ostreatus was recorded at 24 hours interval for eight consecutive days after inoculation. The findings of the experiment showed that after 2^nd day of inoculation among different media, the growth of mycelium was highest on conventional potato dextrose agar (1.2875 cm) followed by synthetic potato dextrose agar (1.2300 cm) and lowest on corn meal agar (0.9625 cm). However, the trend of growth was not similar. Similarly, after 4^th day of inoculation, the growth of the fungus was highest on oat meal agar (4.4700 cm) followed by rice bran agar (4.4275 cm), and least on corn meal agar (2.6700 cm). Likewise, after 6^th day of inoculation, the growth of the fungus was highest on oat meal agar (7.8900 cm) followed by rice bran agar (7.7725 cm), and least on corn meal agar (5.8625 cm). After 8^th day of inoculation, the growth of fungus was highest on oat meal agar, wheat extract agar, conventional potato dextrose agar, and rice bran agar i.e., 9.00 cm, and least on carrot root extract (8.4375 cm). The study indicated a significant effect of most of the media on growth of Pleurotus which suggests their application for culture maintenance.