Growing Oyster Mushrooms Research Articles

Production of bio-fertilizer from microwave vacuum pyrolysis of waste palm shell for cultivation of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus)

Microwave vacuum pyrolysis of waste palm shell (WPS) was performed to produce biochar, which was then tested as bio-fertilizer in growing Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). The pyrolysis approach generated a biochar containing a highly porous structure with a high BET surface area (up to 1250 m2/g) and a low moisture content (≤ 10 wt%), exhibiting desirable adsorption properties to be used as bio-fertilizer since it can act as a housing that provides many sites on which living microorganisms (mycelium or plant-growth promoting bacteria) and organic nutrients can be attached or adsorbed onto. This could in turn stimulate plant growth by increasing the availability and supply of nutrients to the targeted host plant. The results from growing Oyster mushroom using the biochar record an impressive growth rate and a monthly production of up to about 550 g of mushroom. The shorter time for mycelium growth on whole baglog (30 days) and the highest yield of Oyster mushroom (550 g) was obtained from the cultivation medium added with 20 g of biochar. Our results demonstrate that the biochar-based bio-fertilizer produce from microwave vacuum pyrolysis of WPS show exceptional promise as an alternative growing substrate for mushroom cultivation.

French Mushrooms and Truffes

A french small mushrooms business. News In this area, not to the German border, Vincent’s brother, Francis has been growing Oyster mushrooms since 1987, Pleurotes ostreatus and Shiitake – lentinus edodes. We are also selling white and brown button mushrooms, coming from Burgaentzlen in Colmar. Every week, there are about 400 kg, which are sold on Strasbourg open air markets. La Forestiere du Champignon is providing us wild mushrooms and blueberries coming from Vosges mountains. We get morels during 3 weeks only between 15 of April and 15 of May. Calocybe

Cultivation of oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus on date-palm leaves mixed with other agro-wastes in Saudi Arabia

Promoting the use of agricultural waste is one of the newly prepared water and environment friendly agriculture strategies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The objective of this research was to study the efficiency of cultivating oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) on date palm wastes mixed with other agricultural wastes available in KSA. Four agricultural wastes were mixed with date palm leaves at different ratios, with two supplements and three spawn rates were used. Wheat straw mixed with date palm at ratio of 25 (date palm): 75 (agro-waste) showed the best results in most of the parameters measured. Corn meal was superior over wheat bran as a supplement in all treatments. Parameter values increased with the increase of the spawn rate of P. ostreatus. Treatments with date palm leave wastes contained higher carbohydrates and fibers. No significant differences were found among the fruiting bodies produced on the different agro-wastes studied for the different proximates analyzed. Analyses of metal concentration showed that potassium was the highest in all the treatments tested followed by Na, Mg, Ca, and Zn. This is the first study that reported the success of growing oyster mushroom on date palm leaf wastes mixed with other agro-wastes obtainable in KSA.

Self-pasteurised substrate for growing oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.)

As part of participatory research with farmers from the municipality of Cacahoatan, Chiapas, Mexico, an experiment was conducted to determine the technical feasibility of using substrate self-pasteurisation to grow oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus spp). In the first step, the substrate treatment (alkaline immersion disinfection versus self-heating pasteurisation) was evaluated, and after determining the better treatment, the productivity of 10 strains of four Pleurotus species, Pleurotus ostreatus (ECS-0152 and ECS-1123), P. eryngii (ECS-1290 and ECS-1138), P. citrinopileatus (ECS-1338 and ECS-01337) and P. djamor (ECS-0143, ECS-0142, ECS ECS-0144 and ECS-0149) was evaluated. Comparison of the substrate preparation treatments using P. ostreatus strain ECS-0152 showed significant differences in Biological Efficiency (BE) between alkaline immersion and self-heating pasteurisation, which had BE values of 57.6 and 78.6%, respectively (p = 0.001). The yield was compared in three levels of the substrate inside the crate used for self-heating pasteurisation, and no significant differences between the levels were found (p = 0.103). In the evaluated strains, five strains (ECS-0152, ECS-01123, ECS-1338, ECS-0142 and ECS-0149) produced mushrooms with BE values between 53.5 to 111.9%, whereas the other five strains did not produce mushrooms. The highest rate of production was observed in the strain ECS-1123. It can be concluded that the self-heating pasteurisation method is feasible at the field level, and furthermore, five strains of Pleurotus spp. that are able to be cultivated on substrate pasteurised in this way were identified. Key words: Alkaline immersion, self-heating substrate pasteurisation, edible mushrooms, mushroom cultivation

Cultivation of Pleurotus ostreatus and other edible mushrooms

Pleurotus ostreatus is the second most cultivated edible mushroom worldwide after Agaricus bisporus. It has economic and ecological values and medicinal properties. Mushroom culture has moved toward diversification with the production of other mushrooms. Edible mushrooms are able to colonize and degrade a large variety of lignocellulosic substrates and other wastes which are produced primarily through the activities of the agricultural, forest, and food-processing industries. Particularly, P. ostreatus requires a shorter growth time in comparison to other edible mushrooms. The substrate used for their cultivation does not require sterilization, only pasteurization, which is less expensive. Growing oyster mushrooms convert a high percentage of the substrate to fruiting bodies, increasing profitability. P. ostreatus demands few environmental controls, and their fruiting bodies are not often attacked by diseases and pests, and they can be cultivated in a simple and cheap way. All this makes P. ostreatus cultivation an excellent alternative for production of mushrooms when compared to other mushrooms.