The potential of using several agricultural by-products as supplements of sawdust substrate for the production of edible mushroom Hericium was evaluated using seven Hericium species. All the tested supplements (rice bran, wheat bran, barley bran, Chinese cabbage, egg shell, and soybean powder) were found to be suitable for the, mycelial growth of all the tested species. In mycelial growth, soybean powder was the best supplement for Hericium americanum, Hericium coralloides, and Hericium erinaceum while barley bran was the best for Hericium alpestre, Hericium laciniatum, and Hericium erinaceus. For Hericium abietis, rice bran and Chinese cabbage was the best. The possibility of mushroom production on Oak sawdust substrate with 20% rice bran supplement was demonstrated with H. coralloides, H. americanum, H. erinaceus, and H. erinaceum which showed 26-70% biological efficiency. Our results also showed that strain selection is important to improve biological efficiency and mushroom yield in Hericium cultivation. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.