Medicinal and antimicrobial role of the oyster culinary-medicinal mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus (higher Basidiomycetes) cultivated on banana agrowastes in India.

Oyster mushrooms, species of the genus Pleurotus, are recognized for producing secondary metabolites with important medicinal properties. Investigations were carried out to evaluate the antioxidative and antimicrobial properties of the edible mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus (MTCC142) extracts cultivated on banana agrowastes. Ethanolic extracts showed antimicrobial activities against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, and their in vitro antifungal activities against all fungi tested revealed a promising role. Qualitative phytochemical analysis of Pleurotus grown on yeast dextrose broth and banana agrowaste confirmed the presence of steroids, cardiac glycosides, terpenoids, and alkaloids, whereas ethanolic extract after 40 days exhibited a phenol concentration of 521.67 µg/mL in banana waste compared to 155 µg/mL in yeast dextrose broth. The minimum inhibitory concentration of ethanolic extracts ranged from 19.74 to 56.84 mg/mL and 35.53 to 102.31 mg/mL in solid-state and submerged grown mycelium extracts, respectively, after 40 days. Moreover, banana agrowaste could be a significant economic source for the production of the oyster mushroom P. ostreatus. The nutritive, medicinal, and antimicrobial properties of P. ostreatus can be used to develop a new nutraceutical formulation; it can also be used as an additive to routine and fast food.