Cultivated Edible Mushroom

1. Pleurotus spp.: “Kanye Chayau” or Oyster Mushroom.

• It is a common cultivated mushroom known for its oyster-shaped cap.
• It is soft and white when weather is hot and greyish in cold weather.
• The stipe is usually very short.
• Temperature requirement: 26-30 °C.
• In Nepal 4 species have been identified; Pleurotus circinatus, P. nepalensis, P. ostreatus, P. sajor-caju (most commonly cultivated).

Morphological characters:

a) Cap:

• Fan shaped.
• Smooth with no warts or scales.
• Usually white to light brown with firm white flesh.

b) Stem:

• No ring around the stem and no sack around the base.
• Flesh is white.

2. Agaricus spp. : “Gobre chayau” in Nepali and white button mushroom in English.
   • Fruiting body consists of stem (stipe), which supports an expanded , umbrella shaped cap (pileus).
   • On the underside of the pileus are the gills or lamellae which in the young stage are enclosed by a membrane that extends from the margin of pileus to the stipe.

Morphological structure/characteristics.

a) Cap :

• It is convex to broadly convex or nearly flat .
• It is white in some varieties, brown in others.

b) Stem :

• 2-8 cm long thick, smooth or small scales below the rings that sometime disappear in maturity.

c) Gills:

• Free from the stem; close; pinkish to pinkish brown at first later becomes dark brown to blackish.

d) Flesh:

• White and firm.
• In Nepal, identified species of Agaricus are;

I. Agaricus bisporus

ii. A. campestris

iii. A. rodmani

iv. A. silvicola(most poisonous)

v. A. subfrutescence

• These genera can be cultivated in terai during winter and in Kathmandu and lower hills all the year round except summer.

3. Volvariella spp/Paddy straw mushroom.(Parale chyau).

• It is fast growing fungus with selender fleshy stipe of 3-8 cm and whitish/dark grey cap.
• Possesses cup like structure the Volva at the base of the stipe.

Morphological characteristic

a) Cap:

• Egg shaped when young expanding to convex to broadly convex at maturity.

b) Gills :

• Free from the stem, white at first and later change to pink color.

c) Stem :

• Sac like volva i.e. brownish grey to nearly black above.

4. Lentinula spp. (Shiitake)

a) Cap :

• Convex to flat supported by a fibrous stipe.
• White gills on the under side.
• In Nepal , 5 spp, have been identified;

I) Lentinula nepalensis

ii) inguinans

iii) L. radicatus

iv) tigrinus

v) edodes (most commonly cultivates)