In some Latin American countries, agro-industrial wastes (AIW) are put aside in significant quantities, as it is treated as common garbage without a specific management plan. A viable alternative would be to use AIW as substrates for further valorization processes. In this research, it was proposed to cultivate Lentinula edodes, in substrates prepared from mixtures of AIW such as cocoa husk, coconut shell, sugar cane bagasse and rice husk. In addition, the digestate derived from the anaerobic digestion of a mixture of these AIW was also evaluated to cultivate this fungus.
The mycelial vigor of Lentinula edodes was evaluated during in vitro cultivation, seed production and cultivation at the substrate level prepared from AIW. Physical characteristics, growth and physicochemical analysis of the cultivated fungus and a sensory analysis of basidiomas were performed. The highest mycelial vigor was obtained in PDA culture medium, at pH 7.0, AIW extract, incubation at 20 °C and spore inoculum in liquid consistency. Anaerobic digestate produced basidiomas with higher pH, protein, mineral and moisture content (6.7 ± 0.1; 20.7 ± 0.1 %; 4.5 ± 0.3 %; 86.9 ± 0.6 %, respectively), when compared to the trial without anaerobic digestate.
The mushrooms produced showed a moderate difference in flavour compared to commercial mushrooms. It is concluded that Lentinula edodes developed very well in the mixture of the aforementioned AIW with a high nutritional and sensorial value.