Grey oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus sajor-caju) is an edible mushroom cultivated in Malaysia mainly due to its high nutritional and medicinal value. The demand of Pleurotus sajor-caju in local and foreign market rises continuously. In this study, the effect of electrical shock treatment and exposure to blue color LED on the growth, yield and quality of Pleurotus sajor-caju was investigated. There were 6 sets of electrical shock and blue LED treatments applied during spawning and production phase. Mushroom bags which did not receive any treatment were served as Control. The effect of electrical shock and blue LED treatments were observed in the aspects of mycelium growth rate, number of days taken for mycelium to fill-up the bag, pinhead emergence and fruiting body formation. There were significant enhancement in the yield for grey oyster mushroom for the bag treated with Electric and Blue LED, in the total fresh weight of fruiting bodies, number of fruiting bodies, percentages of biological efficiency and substrate utilized for every 100 g mushrooms produced. Therefore, the mushroom bags which were treated with electrical shock and blue LED is the best compared to the other treatments due to significant higher rate of mycelium growth, relatively higher yield and good quality of mushroom.

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Fermentation is one of the common methods used for food preservation in South-Eastern Asia. However, the fermented food products were not well accepted especially by young generations due to its unique taste and distinct aroma. In this study, clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) had been used to investigate the effect of different fresh spices on the fermentation process, colonization of microflora of lactic acid bacteria and sensory acceptability. The clams were fermented for 8 days with addition of different fresh spices such as garlic, ginger and lemongrass. Fermented clam without any addition of fresh spices was served as control The effects on fermentation were analysed in terms of physico-chemical changes such as pH, color and texture. The colonization of lactic acid bacteria were observed on the De Man, Ragosa and Sharpe (MRS), M17 and tomato juice agar. The sensory acceptability of fermented clams with addition of fresh spices were also carried out. The changes of physico-chemical of all parameters were decreased over fermentation period. The CFU of lactic acid bacteria by using MRS, M17 and tomato juice agar were increased for all different fresh spices over fermentation period. Sensory evaluation showed that fermented clam with the addition of lemongrass had the highest acceptability score in terms of aroma, color, taste, texture and overall acceptability.

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