Impact of Ginger Straw on Cultivation and Quality of Pleurotus geesteranus and Hericium erinaceus

Against the backdrop of China's booming edible fungi industry, shortages and price hikes of traditional cultivation substrates have emerged as critical bottlenecks. Meanwhile, the disposal of a large amount of ginger straw produced during the ginger cultivation process is also a major challenge. To address these issues, this study explored ginger straw as an alternative substrate for <i>Pleurotus geesteranus</i> and <i>Hericium erinaceus</i>, focusing on the optimization of substrate formulas and their effects on the nutritional quality of the fungi. Superior strains were first screened, after which the addition ratios of ginger straw (10-40%) were optimized. Commercial characteristics, nutritional components, and safety indicators of the fruiting bodies were determined, and a comprehensive quality evaluation was conducted using the membership function method. Results indicated that excellent strains of both fungi were selected: the optimal ginger straw addition ratio was 15-30% for <i>P. geesteranus</i> and 15% for <i>H. erinaceus</i>. Compared with the conventional cottonseed hull substrate, the optimized formulas significantly increased the biological efficiency (BE) by 9.08-27.1% for <i>P. geesteranus</i> and 9.16% for <i>H. erinaceus</i>. They also improved the contents of key nutrients (e.g., proteins and amino acids), enhanced total antioxidant capacity, and optimized the composition of flavor-contributing amino acids. This study offers a novel approach for the efficient utilization of ginger straw, provides technical and theoretical support for the low-cost and high-quality cultivation of edible fungi, and contributes positively to the development of ecological circular agriculture.