Michael Wiafe-Kwagyan

University of Ghana | Legon · Department of Plant and Environmental Biology

The genus Auricularia contains mushrooms that are known for their edibility, ecological value; as decomposers and nutrient cycling. They also contain medically useful bioactive compounds; mostly polysaccharides with numerous pharmacological activities (antioxidant, anti-tumour, immunomodulatory, hypolipodemic, antidiabetic, anti-microbial, hepatopr...

Wagashi is a West African type cottage cheese locally prepared from cow milk. Wagashi like other milk products, is prone to microbial contamination, particularly by fungi. Many of these fungal species produce mycotoxins which are of serious public health concern. This work aimed to update the mycoflora profile and determine the concentrations of af...

Green mold disease, caused by Trichoderma spp., is one of the most devastating diseases of mushrooms in China. The application of fungicides remains one of the important control methods among the integrated pest management tools for disease management in mushroom farms. This study aimed to identify Trichoderma spp., isolated from G. sichuanense fru...

The genus Phallus is a member of the group commonly known as stinkhorn fungi belonging to the family: Phallaceae and Order: Phallales. They are distributed in tropical areas of Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas but are rarely reported in Ghana. During the recent minor rainy season (September-December 2022) an undocumented member of the Phal...

A novel mushroom in the genus Gymnopilus was observed in the rainy season (June – November 2022) in the Adenta Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, on a pile of dry wood earmarked for firewood. The fruiting body produced prolific basidiospores akin to the order Agaricales of the gilled mushrooms. The fruiting body was small to medium in size a...

Abstract Mycotoxigenic fungi can infect and produce potent mycotoxins in foodstuffs prior to harvest, during harvest (field fungi), and in storage after harvest (storage fungi), which when ingested, can result in adverse health effects. This study was aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices adopted by the Ghanaian populace to hel...

The commercial and cottage industry entrepreneurs in Ghana have cultivated edible mushrooms such as Pleurotus ostreatus with appreciable success. However, the presence of fungal competitors and potential pathogens in the substrate obstructs yield. Selected farms in Greater Accra (6) and Central Region (1) were sampled for baseline data on the resid...

Maize (Zea mays) is an important staple food crop for the majority of Ghanaians. Maize is mostly contaminated by fungal species and particularly mycotoxins. This work aimed to identify and quantify the incidence of fungal infection and exposure to Ochratoxin A (OTA) as well as the health risk characterization in different age populations due to mai...

Agricultural and industrial activities around the world lead to the production of large quantities of agro-industrial wastes (e.g., peels of cassava, pineapple, plantain, banana, and yam, as well as rice husks, rice bran , corn husks, corn cobs, palm kernel cake, soybean meal, wheat bran, etc.). These agro-industrial wastes are discarded indiscrimi...

Maize is a principal food crop used extensively by both humans and animals in Africa and across the globe. Unfortunately, maize is highly susceptible to fungal contamination, especially with toxicogenic species. The contamination is exacerbated subsequently by mycotoxins of these fungi, which is indeed a major concern to governments and the interna...

Calvatia and Lycoperdon belong to the Gasteromycetes commonly called gasteroid fungi or puffballs. Their basidiospores are kept in a stomach-like glebal and spores are not discharged forcibly. An account of diagnostic characters, developmental morphology, anatomical features, and fairy ring formation of Calvatia cyathiformis and Lycoperdon sp. are...

Use of mushroom spent compost to cultivate cow peas

This study investigated the influence of spent mushroom compost (SMC) of Pleurotus eous strain P-31 on the growth, development and soil rhizobial population associated with nodulation of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata Walp.) black-eye variety, under greenhouse conditions at 28 ± 2ºC for 12 weeks. Sandy loam soil was combined with different percentages o...

Mushrooms are mostly saprophytic and grow in soil, on dead wood or are found on grass, lawns, pitches and golf courses. There are about 400 species of Lepiota typically gilled; some are edible and other forming fairy rings in the field. Two Lepiota species were studied in the Greater Accra Region during the rainy season (May-July) of 2016-2018. The...

Mushrooms are mostly saprophytic and grow in soil, on dead wood or are found on grass, lawns, pitches and golf courses. There are about 400 species of Lepiota typically gilled; some are edible and other forming fairy rings in the field. Two Lepiota species were studied in the Greater Accra Region during the rainy season (May-July) of 2016-2018. The...

A study was conducted to correlate the stipe length, cap diameter, and growth yield (fresh weight) of the fruiting body of Pleurotus ostreatus strain EM‐1 using different rice lignocellulosic wastes and “wawa” (Triplochiton scleroxylon) compost: raw unamended rice straw; rice straw amended with 1% CaCO3 and 10% CaCO3; rice straw amended with 1% CaC...

This study updates the mycobiota resident in groundnut seeds, their phenology during storage with the view to ascertain their occurrence, potential toxigenic species, and pathologically important species in the stored samples. The moisture content of the seeds ranged from 5.7% to 6.5% within the stipulated safe moisture content of 8% for extension...

Medicinal mushrooms are part of total health delivery system of a nation. A mushroom of recognised health benefits was seen for the first time on a pencil cactus (Euphorbia turicalli L.) in the Greater Accra Region (Adentan Municipal Assembly) in September- October 2021. The fruiting body was gelatinous with the shape of a human ear. The basidiomat...

Objective: This study sought to preliminarily investigate the inhibitory effect of metabolites of Aspergillus chevalieri and Trichoderma harzianum on a number of pathogenic bacteria. Methods: The agar well diffusion method was employed to determine the antimicrobial activity of the fungal metabolites. The test microorganisms were Enterococcus faeca...

Two oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus eous P-31 and P. ostreatus EM-1) are under either cottage industry or semi-commercial cultivation in Ghana. The latter (P. ostreatus) is already well known to the public and on the shelf of some leading supermarkets. There is morphological resemblance between the two species making it difficult for the untrained eye...

A random assessment and human risk analysis were conducted on 80 groundnut pastes and raw groundnuts from some local markets across the different agroecological zones of Ghana. Total aflatoxins (AFtotal) and aflatoxins (AFB 1 , AFB 2 , AFG 1 , and AFG 2) were analyzed using the High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method. Out of 80 samples...

The influence of gamma irradiation on the sensory, acceptability and some descriptive textural attributes of dried P.ostreatus were evaluated. Sensory evaluation was carried out using steamed mushroom samples irradiated at doses 0 (control), 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 kGy at a dose rate of 1.7 kGy/h from a Cobalt 60 source (SLL 515, Hungary) batch irradiator...

Fruits and vegetables contain nutrients that are beneficial to human health. Consumption of fruits and vegetables in Ghana has always been high. In recent times, some fruits and vegetables sold to consumers in the country are pre-cut and packaged by vendors. However, the process of cutting and packaging of such fruits and vegetables may introduce...

Background Mushroom cultivation is increasingly becoming a serious agribusiness in Ghana, especially at the time when entrepreneurship is being encouraged to reduce the pressure of employment in the government sector and also due to its nutritional and medicinal attributes. Methods A survey was carried out using the rapid appraisal method to revie...

Comparative bioconversion of gamma irradiated and steam sterilized 'wawa' sawdust (Triplochiton scleroxylon L.) by mycelia of oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus Jacq. Ex.Fr. Kummer) Abstract Pleurotus ostreatus was cultivated on composted 'wawa' (Triplochiton scleroxylon) sawdust subjected to physical pretreatment techniques of moist heat steril...

Background: Consumption patterns of mushrooms have increased in Ghana recently owing to its acknowledgement as a functional food. Different mushroom cultivation methods and substrate types have been linked to the quality of mushrooms produced, thereby affecting its pricing. Methods: A comparative regression analysis was carried out to assess the co...

Background Consumption patterns of mushrooms have increased in Ghana recently owing to its acknowledgement as a functional food. Different mushroom cultivation methods and substrate types have been linked to the quality of mushrooms produced, thereby affecting its pricing. Methods A comparative regression analysis was carried out to assess the cor...

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of spent mushroom compost of Pleurotus eous strain P-31 on the growth and yield performance of pepper and tomato seedlings under greenhouse conditions. Sandy loam soil was combined with different percentages of SMC to obtain the following combinations (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30) %. Lowe...

The presence of fungi in our foods poses serious health risks as some genera of fungi may produce certain mycotoxins which have carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, and immunosuppressive effect on humans and animals alike. Fruitbodies of Pleurotus ostreatus were solar dried at a moisture content of 12.5 ± 0.2% and stored in polythene and polypropy...

The effectiveness of using low dose gamma radiation (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 kiloGray) was tested on dry fruit bodies of Pleurotus ostreatus stored in polythene and polypropylene and stored at 28-30 o C up to 12 months for identification of members of Enterobacteriaceae with API 20E test kit (Biomerieux ®, France). Encountered microorganisms of the Contro...

Pleurotus ostreatus has high nutritional value as an important source of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, mineral elements and is among most favorite mushrooms of the world. Proximate composition and metabolizable energy of these mushrooms were evaluated for their dietary value. Fruit bodies were solar dried to a moisture content of 12% and expose...

Mushrooms contain some of the most potent natural medicines on the planet. Vitamins A, C, D, Mineral elements, contents, as well as total soluble solids (Brixo) of dried composition of Pleurotus ostreatus were investigated after exposing to gamma radiation doses of 0 (control), 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 kGy at a dose rate of 1.7 kGy per hour in air from a...

The use of mushroom for the bioconversion of low quality lignocellulosic agricultural waste into nutritional food and animal feed rich in protein and minerals offers an alternative food and feed supplement. The genus Pleurotus comprises of edible lignolytic mushrooms capable of selective delignification of lignocellulolytic crop residue converting...

Aim: Antioxidant potential of dried and gamma irradiated mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) were assessed over a 12 months storage period. Place and Duration of Study: Laboratory work was carried out at the Applied Radiation and Methodology: Mushrooms were stored in polythene and polypropylene packs and were irradiated with ionizing radiation from a c...

The efficacy of gamma irradiation and moist heat sterilization of sorghum grains (Sorghum bicolor) for the production of spawns in heat resistant polypropylene bags were assessed. Both methods were tested single (moist heat or irradiated) and combined (moist heat and irradiated). The mycelium colonizing time, rate of colonizing, percentage contamin...

Sorghum is one of the important cereals consumed by humans, animals and also used for the production of mushroom spawns in Ghana. Aim: Identification of fungi present on sorghum grains before and after pretreatment (steam and gamma radiation) principally for mushroom cultivation.) of sorghum grains and their relative frequency (percentage occurrenc...

The growth and survival of some fungi associated with composted and pretreated sawdust particularly for mushroom cultivation were investigated on two growth media; Cooke's and Oxytetracycline Glucose Yeast Extract (OGYE). Some fungi were isolated during the composting of sawdust over a period of 28 days as well as after pretreatment with gamma irra...

Aim: The nutritional and anti-nutritional qualities of Pleurotus ostreatus (EM-1) and Pleurotus eous (P-31) cultivated on rice straw were compared. Methodology: In vitro antioxidant analysis, proximate analysis, refractometry, atomic absorption and Atwaters procedure. Results: Nutritional results recorded for the two Pleurotus spp. ranged 80.

The inhibition of one microorganism by another through chemical means (antibiosis) or by competition for nutrient in a micro-ecological environment is a well-known phenomenon in mushroom composts during preparation of substrate for bioconversion into fruiting bodies. The effect of culture metabolites of three resident fungi (Aspergillus flavus, Pen...

The influence of 15 kGy dose of gamma radiation on the performance of eight lignocellulose agro-wastes for mushroom (Pleurotus eous, P-31) cultivation was evaluated. The agro-wastes investigated included coconut coir, rice husk, rice straw, banana leaves, cassava peels, corn cobs, elephant grass and sawdust (control). Corn cobs performed overall be...