Enhancement of biomass production of edible mushroom Pleurotus sajor-caju grown in whey by plant growth hormones

Edible mushroom Pleurotus sajor-caju was grown under submerged condition in deproteinized whey supplemented with diammonium hydrogen phosphate and plant growth hormones, viz. indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), gibberellic acid (GA3) and kinetin (KIN). The hormones, at different concentrations, increased the biomass production of P. sajor-caju by 15-26%. However, increase in protein content of the mycelia was relatively small (3-5%) over the control. Maximum enhancement was observed with indole-3-acetic acid. Twenty-eight percent more protein could be harvested from 1 l of whey containing 2 mg l−1 of indole-3-acetic acid.