Abstract

The effect of time of exposure to light during the in total protein concentration and its quality, expressed in amino-acid composition, was evaluated. The cultivation was carried out by solid-state fermentation on residual cacao plantations in Ecuador and their fruits were subjected to light for 4h, 8h and 12h. No variation was observed in total protein concentrations, which showed values of 28,37 %, 28,68 % and 28,89 % in cultures exposed to light for 4, 8 and 12 hours respectively. Light does not have an effect on the amino-acid composition of P. ostreatus and the modified index of essential amino-acids was 57.88 as average. Methionine was the first limitation since it represented 47,8% of the requirement in relation to the complete egg. These results allow dealing more deeply with the nutritional potential of P. ostreatus grown upon agricultural byproducts.