Innovation: The current invention (Durum wheat waste dextrose agar) has some advantage over potato dextrose agar (1) PDA culture medium is imported but DWWDA is locally made (2) Full powdered Durum wheat waste Dextrose Agar is about 50% cheaper than PDA (3) The major raw material in DWWDA, wheat bran is an industrial waste but irish potato is a scarce staple food in Nigeria (4) DWWDA is dry powder and difficult to go mouldy or, is easy to preserve, the room temperature with shelf-life is up to 2 years.

Sector/Industry Application: Agriculture and Health

Description: Solid waste disposal is a major environmental issue in Nigeria, hence the need to proffer solutions. Fungi are known to thrive well artificially on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA). The common growth medium is prepared from irish potato which is a scarce and expensive staple food in Nigeria such that virtually all quality media for growing fungi are imported products. This work reports the performance of three macrofungi; mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus, Ganoderma oregonense and Schyzophyllum commune) and four microfungi (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillum species and Trichoderma species) on PDA compared with their growth on a newly locally composed agar medium called Durum Wheat Waste Dextrose Agar (DWWDA). Result showed that the mycelial growth of the five fungi increased with time. Trichoderma species had the fastest growth in both media compared to other fungi. The mean growth of Penicillum species, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger differed significantly at (P<0.05) in both media while that of Pleurotus ostreatus, Ganoderma oregonense, Schyzophyllum commune and Trichoderma species were not significant. Penicillum species and the two Aspergillus species performed better on DWWDA than PDA. Durum wheat waste dextrose agar is a standard medium for cultivation of fungi comparable to PDA. Durum wheat waste can be utilised in producing growth medium for cultivating mushrooms and other fungi for education, research and agriculture

Problem: The research aims at providing cheap, locally made fungal growth media.