Scanned images of Oyster mushroom's mycelium grown on a PDA medium

This dataset contains time-lapse scanned images of Pleurotus ostreatus mycelium cultured on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and monitored over an incubation period of 8 days. The study aimed to test the hypothesis that environmental factors—specifically pH, temperature, and incubation time—significantly influence the radial growth and morphological development of oyster mushroom mycelium.

To evaluate this, cultures were grown under varying pH levels (4–8), temperature regimes (20–27 °C), and incubation times (2–8 days). Images were processed using a computer vision pipeline that included preprocessing, cropping, color channel streamlining, RGB to binary conversion, thresholding, contour extraction, and batch processing to generate quantitative digital outputs (in pixels) of colony growth dynamics.

Notable findings from the processed image data revealed that:

pH 6 provided the most favorable conditions for mycelial expansion, while pH 7 supported the least growth, especially at later incubation stages.

The optimal temperature range was 25–27 °C, which promoted rapid radial growth, enhanced enzyme activity, and efficient nutrient uptake. Lower temperatures (≤20 °C) slowed growth, while values >30 °C (reported in prior studies) reduced performance.

Incubation period strongly influenced growth, with exponential hyphal extension observed after day 4 and maximum expansion at day 8, reflecting the shift from lag to exponential growth phases.

Interpretation of results suggests that growth regulation is tightly linked to enzyme secretion (e.g., cellulases and ligninases), cytoplasmic streaming, vesicle trafficking to hyphal tips, and maintenance of proton gradients—all of which are optimized under weakly acidic conditions and mesophilic temperatures. These findings demonstrate the synergistic effects of environmental conditions on fungal physiology and validate the application of computer vision as a non-invasive, reproducible method for monitoring mycelial growth.