Assessment of nutritional quality of wild and cultivated Pleurotus sajor-caju.

The edible mushroom Pleurotus sajor-caju, cultivated on corncobs and obtained from the wild, was assessed by nutritional indices. The protein efficiency ratios obtained for the rats fed stalk diet (2.16) and that of rats fed native P. sajor-caju cap diet (2.14) were not significantly different (P >or= .05) from one another but were lower than the casein control (2.50), whereas the value for the wild cap diet-fed rats (2.99) was significantly higher (P <or= .05) than the control. Net protein retention value obtained for rats fed cap diets was significantly higher (P <or= .05) than the control, whereas the value for the stalk-fed rats was not significantly different (P >or= .05) from the control. Biochemical parameters analyzed include serum albumin, total protein, and hemoglobin. Serum albumin concentrations of both the cultivated and wild cap diet-fed rats were not significantly different (P >or= .05) from that of the control, whereas those of the two stalk diet-fed groups were significantly higher (P <or= .05) than the control. Hemoglobin concentrations were significantly higher (P <or= .05) in rats fed wild cap diet than in all other treatment groups. Serum total protein values of rats fed cultivated stalk and wild cap diets were significantly higher (P <or= .05) in rats fed wild cap diet than in all other treatment groups. Total protein values of rats fed cultivated stalk and wild cap diets were significantly higher than those of other groups. The preceding highlights the importance of cultivated and native P. sajor-caju as sources of high-quality protein that could contribute to nutritional adequacy in human diets.