title: Tea waste: an effective and economic substrate for oyster mushroom cultivation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tea waste is the residue that remains after tea leaves have been extracted by hot water to obtain water-soluble components. The waste contains a re-usable energy substrate and nutrients which may pollute the environment if they are not dealt with appropriately. Other agricultural wastes have been widely studied as substrates for cultivating mushrooms. In the present study, we cultivated oyster mushroom using tea waste as substrate. To study the feasibility of re-using it, tea waste was added to the substrate at different ratios in different experimental groups. Three mushroom strains (39, 71 and YOU) were compared and evaluated. Mycelia growth rate, yield, biological efficiency and growth duration were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Substrates with different tea waste ratios showed different growth and yield performance. The substrate containing 40-60% of tea waste resulted in the highest yield.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tea waste could be used as an effective and economic substrate for oyster mushroom cultivation. This study also provided a useful way of dealing with massive amounts of tea waste.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.|School of Agriculture and Forestry Technology, Longnan Normal College, Longnan, 742500, China.
authors.forename: Doudou
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.
authors.forename: Yunsheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: School of Plant Protection, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: School of Plant Protection, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.
authors.forename: Zhengzhu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Chi-Tang
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.
authors.forename: Xiaochun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wan
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000191:economics*; D025282:Mycelium / Q000254:growth & development; D020076:Pleurotus / Q000254:growth & development*; D013662:Tea / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D007220:Industrial Waste; D013662:Tea
keywords: Pleurotus ostreatus; cotton seed hull; mushroom; tea waste