Sustainable Cultivation of Enoki Mushroom Using Olive Pomace: An Eco-Friendly Solution for Agricultural Waste Management

Olive pomace, an important by-product of olive oil production, causes significant environmental problems. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of using olive pomace as substrate on the yield and quality characteristics of enoki mushroom (Flammulina velutipes) cultivated in bottle culture. Ten different substrate formulations containing different ratios of beech sawdust (BS) and olive pomace (OP) as main material and rice bran (RB) as additive material were used in the experiment. The effects of these substrates on mycelial growth, primordium formation, mushroom formation, yield and mushroom quality characteristics were evaluated. The findings revealed significant differences among the substrates regarding growth time, yield, and quality. Yield and biological efficiency values varied between 79.41–127.72 g kg–1 and 19.29–27.37%, respectively. It was determined that olive pomace can be used as a sustainable and effective substrate alternative for F. velutipes cultivation. In the study, it was concluded that 10BS + 20RB + 70OP and 20RB + 80OP substrates gave better results in terms of yield and can be recommended for cultivation. The results indicate that olive pomace, an agricultural by-product, can be effectively used as a substrate component and contribute to the sustainable and eco-friendly production of enoki mushroom.