Cultivation of mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) on different types of oil palm biomass / Mohammad Danial Sharom Nizan

The accumulation of by-products from the oil palm industry in Malaysia has resulted in the degradation of environment due to open burning and underused of oil palm biomass such as Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB), Oil Palm Trunk (OPT) and Oil Palm Frond (OPF) has created major disposal problem. The aim of this study is to test the ability of different types of oil palm biomass wastes (EFB, OPT, OPF) for growth of Volvariella volvacea. The project used 10 kg from each of oil palm biomass that have been grinded, and the project started with the decomposition process for 14 days for each of oil palm biomass. 5 kg of each of oil palm biomass were than inoculated with Volvariella volvacea spawn and observed the growing process. No fruiting bodies were obtained due to many contributing factors such as low decomposing temperature, extreme weather such as strong wind, direct sunlight and heavy rain, decreased viability of Volvariella volvacea spawn due to short lifespan and lengthy travel time to receive the spawn, and small size of oil palm fibre substrate.