Utilization of agricultural and agroindustrial residues in the cultivation and production of edible mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.)

Some productive processes allow the utilization of by-products, waste or residues generated in other different processes. From the point of view of the sustainable development, this is interesting because, on the one hand, the resources are to be useful to the maximum, and for other one, the waste disposal decreases. A good example is the use of a great variety of agricultural crop residues and agroindustrial by-products as substrates in the production of edible mushrooms. Mushroom cultivation is an efficient biotechnological process, since high performances and good productivity are achieved with low environmental controls. Mushrooms grow in a wide range of temperature, in short periods and has the ability of biodegrade different lignocellulosic substrates. This makes possible the valorization of agricultural, forest and agroindustrial residues regionally available. In Mexico, mushroom cultivation is an important economic and ecological activity, because it generates employments and enables the use and recycling of more than 500,000 tons of agricultural, agroindustrial and forest residues, per year. Moreover, it reduces the environmental impact of the final disposition of green residues. The goal of this work is to present a review of the research, mainly in Ibero-American countries, about the utilization of different green wastes (substrates) on the cultivation and production of edible mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.). Substrates were classified as straw, stubble, pulp, bagasse, forest residues, and others. The wide variation of biological efficiency (BE) (15 % - 235 %) obtained in different studies, and the criteria needed to choose the correct substrate for the cultivation of mushrooms were also analyzed.