Utilization of Apple Pomace for Improving Yield and Nutritional Profile of the Elm Oyster Culinary-Medicinal Mushroom Hypsizygus ulmarius (Agaricomycetes).

This study is aimed at transforming the apple processing waste into valuable food protein. The usual substrates for Hypsizygus ulmarius mushroom like wheat and paddy straw were supplemented with apple pomace at two different concentrations i.e. 50% and 25% to evaluate the effect on the yield. Out of the different agro-waste substrates, paddy straw:apple pomace in a ratio of 75:25 gave the maximum yield 278.81 g and biological efficiency 92.94% followed by wheat straw:apple pomace in a ratio of 75:25 with yield 253.88 g and biological efficiency 84.63%. The protein and fiber composition of the fruit bodies ranged from 23.22 to 26.29% and 14.53 to 17.32%, respectively. The fat and ash ranged from 1.61 to 2.43% and 4.64 to 5.93%, respectively. There was appreciable antioxidant activity which ranged from 83.30 to 85.00%.