Academic literature on the topic 'Mushroom cultivation'

As part of a project designed to utilize common dairy waste products profitably, reconstituted dry whey permeate and delactosed whey were tested as growth substrates for mycelia of the edible mushroom Lentinus edodes. This mushroom was chosen because it is possible to profitably cultivate it due to its popular culinary appeal and perceived medical benefits. Growth experiments were performed in petri dishes containing either reconstituted dry whey permeate or delactosed whey as a growth substrate, and the measured response was the size of the growing mycelia colony. When reconstituted dry whey permeate was utilized as a growth substrate, the factors of substrate concentration, pH, and growth temperature were controlled in an effort to determine the optimal growth conditions for the mushroom mycelia. These conditions were determined by applying an analytical method known as response surface methodology (RSM). RSM is a collection of mathematical techniques that is able to determine optimal values for many variables run simultaneously in an experiment. Mycelia were also grown on delactosed whey at different substrate concentrations in an effort to determine if this substrate would be suitable for the growth of mushroom mycelia. Results: RSM was successfully utilized to determine the optimal growth conditions for L. edodes when grown on reconstituted dry whey powder. These conditions were 40 g/L substrate concentration, pH 4 .97, and temperature 23.6°C Delactosed whey was successfully utilized as a growth substrate for L. edodes. However, delactosed whey concentrations above 40% v/v were lethal to the mushroom mycelia, suggesting a possible use for delactosed whey as a fungicide.

Vast- quantities of lignocellulosic materials, representing potential substrates for the cultivation of speciality mushrooms, are produced annually in South Africa. A number of these materials are derived as waste products of the timber and agricultural industries, e.g. Maranti (Shorea spp.) and Port Jackson Willow (Acacia longifolia) respectively. The screening of various wood-degrading fungi, which are cultivated worldwide for their production of speciality mushrooms, indicated that under the environmental conditions considered, certain species were adapted to cultivation on these lignocellulosic wastes (Pleurotus species) whereas others were not (Lentinus edodes and Flammulina velutipes). Furthermore, intra- and interspecies specific differences in the growth and production potential of the various lignocellulolytic fungi investigated on synthetic and natural medium were discovered. Biochemical and genetical investigations of these strains indicated differences between and within species which were often significant. Species varied qualitatively and quantitatively in the lignocellulolytic enzymes produced, which was loosely correlated with productivity on the different media investigated. Genetical studies, using RAPD fingerprinting, indicated that the Pleurotus genus is highly variable which supports the observed differences in growth, yield and enzymatic activity between different strains and species.

Improving food safety and food security is imperative to adequately feed a growing population that is expected to exceed 9 billion people by 2050. Mushroom cultivation provides unique opportunities to take advantage of underutilized resources and produce high-quality food from otherwise inedible or unsafe food sources. Pleurotus ostreatus is a ligninolytic and biotechnologically relevant fungus that can be cultivated on a diverse array of lignocellulosic byproducts. Prosopis spp. are abundant in the Sonoran Desert and broadly distributed in semi-arid to arid regions around the globe. Prosopis spp. legumes (pods), and approximately 25% of all commonly cultivated crops, are susceptible to aflatoxin contamination, a highly carcinogenic and potentially lethal mycotoxin. This work aimed to (1) identify novel lignocellulosic byproducts from the Sonoran Desert for use as substrate materials in Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushroom) cultivation; (2) evaluate the safety of mushrooms cultivated on plant products that are contaminated with aflatoxin; and (3) measure the amount of aflatoxin that is degraded by P. ostreatus after the contaminated products have been colonized by the fungus. Prosopis spp. pods were identified as suitable substrate component for P. ostreatus production by conducting yield evaluations and finding that the biological efficiency increased with increasing percentages of pods. No detectable quantity of aflatoxin could be measured in mushrooms that were cultivated on maize that was naturally contaminated with aflatoxin B1 at concentrations up to 2500 ng g⁻¹. P. ostreatus degraded AFB₁ by >85% in maize with initial concentrations of 2500 ng g⁻¹ AFB₁ in repeated experiments. Thus, the cultivation of P. ostreatus on aflatoxin-contaminated products may be a viable method to produce a safe and high quality food from an otherwise unsafe food source, and may double as a means to reduce the aflatoxin concentration in contaminated plant products to levels that are acceptable for use as livestock feed.