article · Agriculture
Excessive growth of aquatic plants in wetlands can harm local ecosystems and release greenhouse gases when the vegetation decays. To address this issue, researchers tested the use of three aquatic wetland plants, lake sedge, water hyacinth, and sacred lotus, as alternative substrates for growing oyster mushrooms under controlled laboratory conditions. These plant materials were evaluated both on their own and mixed in equal parts with standard straw substrate. All tested combinations supported mushroom spawning and development. While the conventional straw substrate yielded the highest growth, biological efficiency, and nutritional parameters, lake sedge, sacred lotus, and water hyacinth also demonstrated positive cultivation outcomes. The findings confirm that problematic wetland plant biomass can be repurposed to cultivate edible mushrooms, offering a method to manage surplus vegetation sustainably.
Uncontrolled aquatic plants threaten wetland environments and generate greenhouse gases as they rot. Repurposing these invasive and abundant plants as growing substrates for edible mushrooms creates a dual benefit. It helps clear degraded waterways while converting problematic organic waste into a nutritious food source.
This research is at an applied laboratory stage. It demonstrates a potential pathway for mushroom producers and waste management operators to replace or supplement conventional agricultural substrates with harvested wetland weeds. Adopting these aquatic plants could lower raw material costs for commercial mushroom growers while assisting wetland remediation efforts, though pilot testing outside controlled laboratory settings would be required.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
The abundant biomass growth of aquatic macrophytes in wetlands is one of the major concerns affecting their residing biota. Moreover, the biomass degenerates within the wetlands, thereby causing a remixing of nutrients and emission of greenhouse gases. Therefore, it is crucial to find sustainable methods to utilize the biomass of aquatic macrophytes devoid of environmental concerns. The present study investigates the utilization of the biomass of three aquatic macrophytes, including the lake sedge (CL: Carex lacustris Willd.), water hyacinth (EC: Eichhornia crassipes Mart. Solms), and sacred lotus (NL: Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) to produce oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus var. florida) mushrooms. For this purpose, different combinations of wheat straw (WS: as control) and macrophyte’s biomass (WH) such as control (100% WH), CL50 (50% WH + 50% CL), CL100 (100% CL), EC50 (50% WH + 50% EC), EC100 (100% EC), NL50 (50% WH + 50% NL), and NL100 (100% NL) were used for P. florida cultivation under controlled laboratory conditions. The results showed that all selected combinations of wheat straw and macrophyte biomass supported the spawning and growth of P. florida. In particular, the maximum significant (p < 0.05) growth, yield, bioefficiency, proximate, and biochemical parameters were reported using the WH substrate followed by CL, NL, and EC biomass, which corresponds to the reduction efficiency of the substrate parameters. Therefore, the findings of this study reveal that the biomass of selected aquatic macrophytes can be effectively utilized for sustainable mushroom cultivation while minimizing the risk associated with their self-degeneration.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.3390/agriculture12122095
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
