ABSTRACT
The cultivation of Pleurotus has been accomplished in substrata or composed to the base of cellulosic or lignified residues. Due to their enzymatic complexes these species can grow and produce mushrooms on these low-nutrient substrates. The present study was aimed to evaluate the addition of sawdust of tannery leather to an elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) base substrate for the production of Pleurotus ostreatus (strain BF24) in a system of axenic cultivation. The results showed that the substrate was colonized entirely, but it reduced the yield of mushrooms. However, more detailed analyses in regard to the physical and chemical properties of these residues should be carried, with subsequent bromatologic analyses of the mushrooms produced, as they could absorb some substance that may be present in the leather, even in the case of leather tanned only with tannin.
KEY WORDS
Axenic cultivation; leather; mushrooms; tannery
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