Mushrooms (Agaricus bisporous) belongs to kingdom fungi, order Agaricales and class Agaricomycetes. It is a macro fungus, Eukaryotic, umbrella shaped fruiting body without any leaves and flowers with round top and short stem.
By Shumaila Boota, Bushra Shoukat, Fozia Yaseen, Ayesha Jameel, Bilal Haider, Maria Naqve, Athar Mahmood.
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
Introduction
Mushroom came from 4600 years ago and now they are cultivated throughout the world because of their nutritional value. According to the survey, the total mushroom production in the world is 12-20 million tons. Most cultivated fungi in Pakistan are oyster mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms. Fungal cultivation is an important microbial technology. In the future newer mushrooms added and the production of mushrooms consumed at this time will increase with genetic increase and progress in cultivation technology.
Benefits
Mushroom is a commercial plant for developers so that more than 35 fungal species are commercially cultivated. Mushrooms can make additional valuable diets through their protein and micronutrient content and their medicinal properties. They are free from cholesterol and contain essential amino acids and vitamins. Minerals such as potassium, iron, copper, zinc, and manganese are high on the body of the mushroom. Many byproducts of agricultural production and food processing can be used as a medium that grows in mushroom production. The remaining material after the harvest can be composted and applied directly to the ground as an organic component. Another important aspect of fungal cultivation is that it helps reduce pollutants in the environment. Mushrooms are also known as Mycoremediation tools because of their use in remediation of various types of pollutants.
Edible and Poisonous mushrooms
Many mushroom species are present where some species are toxic but most are edible and useful. Edible mushrooms are fleshy and can be eaten. These mushrooms are nutritious and used as a food, e.g. Shiitake mushroom, oyster mushrooms and Caesar mushrooms. Toxic mushrooms are toxic in nature and are harmful to human health. Agaricus Xanthoderma is the most common example of toxic mushrooms.
Life Cycle
Every mushroom can produce hundreds or thousands of spores. These spores are present in the gills located under the mushroom hat. Fungi doubles with millions and millions of spores. Spore is a single cell and when spores settle in a suitable environment, it can germinate and branched in forming mycelium.
Mycelium is a living body made by a small filament called hyphae. Hyphae is a group of spores that will combine and begin to form mycelium in specific conditions. This mycelium turns into a structure that has matured and referred to as a mycelium. Mycelia mushrooms can live hundreds of years or die in a few months, depending on the supply of available food. If the temperature and humidity match and the food is available, mycelium will produce new sporophor plants every year during the season. Mycelia’s cultivation only requires a few days while the production of the fruit body is a long-term process of 1-2 months.
Method of cultivation
Cultivation starts from phase 1 compost where compost is made by straws or seeds by mixing organic material such as straw, poultry manure, horse manure, gypsum, peat moss and soybean to increase the nutritional value. Temperature is maintained and water is added continuously in the mixture to maintain moisture.
In the phase two composting is complete by removing ammonia and then pasteurized to kill insects according to the bulk system in controlled space.
In spawning the seeds of mushrooms or mycelium added in compost. Most straw seeds are used for outdoor cultivation and seedling seeds for indoor cultivation.
Top sanitary napkins are spread on the compost surface that acts as a water reservoir. This dress is called the casing, which is made by sterilizing sawdust or coconut coir. Sphagnum Peat Moss is mostly used for casings.
In pinning fresh air introduced to clean CO2 from the surface of the casing. At this stage mycelium turned from vegetative stage to fruiting stage. Trimming is done when the mushroom body is fully developed. After first cutting other fruit bodies appeared with intervals of 2-3 or 7-10 days and continued for two to three months. Generally mushrooms are white and gray. Mushrooms are well washed in a prepared solution of water and potassium metasulphate for their good color. Then they preserved with special care such as in cold storage or other controlled environment storage. In short-term storage mushrooms placed in the refrigerator at 1-4 ° C. During the initial cooling there was a high cooling load but so pre-cold fungus, the cooler load was a lot reduced. In drying long-term storage (e.g. sun drying, drying thermal power & hot air drying) canning and maintainer processes applied.
Suitable environment and essential nutrients
It is possible to grow fungi in a certain season under natural conditions, or grow throughout the year in controlled conditions. Mushrooms do not contain chlorophyll so direct sunlight is not needed because. Media light, heat, water and grow managed for mushroom production in controlled space. The temperature range fluctuates continuously during the cultivation process but the level of moisture is always high.
The most important requirement for successful mushroom production is a high-quality compost substrate. Inorganic nitrogen sources are also applied with nitrogen supplements. The fertilizer needed for fungal cultivation is urea, AN (ammonium nitrate) and CAN (calcium ammonium nitrate). The number of fungal increases with the increasing doses of urea and CAN, but decreases with the increasing dose of AN.