African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (4), pp. 400-409, 19 February 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Cultivation of Agaricus bisporus on wheat straw and waste tea leaves based compost formulas using wheat chaff as activator material

Huseyin Peker ^1*, Ergun Baysal², Osman Nuri Yigitbasi², Hakan Simsek², Mehmet Colak² and Hilmi Toker²

¹Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Forestry, 61080, Trabzon, Turkey.

²Mugla University, Faculty of Technical Education, Kotekli, 48000, Mugla, Turkey.

*Corresponding Authors E-mail: peker100@hotmail.com  Tel: +904623772833; Fax: +90-4623253208.

Accepted 7 December, 2006

This study was designed to determine the pin head formation time and yield values of Agaricus bisporus on some casing materials. Composts were prepared basically from wheat straw and waste tea leaves by using wheat chaff as activator substance. Temperatures of the compost formulas were measured during composting at various depths in order to determine the compostability level. Results showed that in both compost types, maximum temperature values were recorded in the second turning stage. Composting was completed in 21 days for both composts. While the fastest pin head formation (12.50 days) was obtained on wheat straw based compost using peat of Bolu (PB) and peat of Agacbasi (PA) (50+50; in volume); waste tea leaves based compost using peat of Caykara (PC) and forest soil (FS) mixture (50+50; in volume) as casing material gave the fastest pin head formation (13.25 days). In terms of yield, a mixture of peat of Bolu and peat of Agacbasi (PA) (50+50; in volume) gave the highest yield for wheat straw based compost, a mixture of peat of Agacbasi and perlite (P) (80+20; involume) had the highest yield for waste tea leaves based compost.

Key words: Agaricus bisporus, wheat straw, waste tea leaves, wheat chaff, pin head formation, compost temperature, yield.