Oyster mushroom cultivation is booming in Côte d'Ivoire and provides an additional source of income for farmers. However, many difficulties related to the quality and availability of spawn slow the activity of many producers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the Pleurotus spawn age on carpophore production and nutritional quality of oyster mushrooms grown in Côte d'Ivoire. The experimental design setup is a completely randomized Fischer block with three repetitions with a single factor (age of the spawn). Spawn age corresponding to 15 days, 30 days, 42 days, 48 days, 51 days, 58 days and 61 days were used to inoculate a substrate composed of 98% sawdust, 1% rice bran and 1% agricultural lime. The results showed that the rate of growth decreased during the course of mycelium evolution for all ages of spawn. The highest biological efficiency (EB) (16.89 ± 0.26) was observed for 61dayold spawn and the lowest (10.53 ± 0.25) at 15 days old. Dried oyster mushrooms are rich in protein (17.79 ± 2.04%) and carbohydrate (67.67 ± 0.12%), but with low fiber (0.55 ± 0.34%) and lipid (1.19 ± 0.4%). These conditions of deficit in these essential elements could be filled by a contribution in ingredient in the manufacture of a whole met.
