Cultivation of Agaricus spp.( Button mushroom)
- Also k/a Low temperature mushroom.
Procedure for Production of Agaricus
- Spawn:
- Spawn should be free from contamination.
- Well developed mycelium should be present.
- Fresh spawn i.e. with strong smell of mushroom, should be used.
- Composting:
It is carried by short method or long method. The short method of composting consists of following steps.
- At first , the paddy straw is placed in layers and watered along with fertilizers , wheat bran , molasses, etc.
- All the substrates are thoroughly mixed with straw and stacked at 5 feet high , 5 feet wide and length as per requirement.
- The stack is turned on fourth day and watered on the second day.
- The stack is again turned on fourth day and watered by adding gypsum.
- The third and final turning is done on twelth day when the color changes into dark brown and emitting ammonia smell.
- Thus prepared compost is pasteurized to kill undesirable microbes. This is carried inside steaming room at 600 C temperature for 4 hours.
- The compost is ready with pH 7.5 and moisture 70%.
- Spawning.
- The process of mixing the spawn with compost to cultivate mushroom is called spawning.
- The spawn is thoroughly mixed @7.5ml/kg compost or 500-750 gm/100kg compost(0.5-0.75%).
- Spawn running.
- After spawning the compost is filled in polythene bags (90 x 90 cm2) of 20-25kg/bags or trays capacity.
- The fungal mask grows in about 2 weeks and colonize.
- Casing
- The compost beds after a complete spawn is covered with a layer of soil sterilized with formaldehyde for 7-8 hours with a thickness of 3-4 cm to induce fermenting.
- The treatment is repeated again every 15 days before casing.
- During this operation , the room temperature is maintained around 23-28 0C and 85-90% RH for the next 8-10 Days.
Time of casing:
– Traditionally, beds are cased when spawn have penetrated the compost bed efficiently.
- Depending on the kind and quantity of the spawn used, the quality of compost and the prevailing atmosphere, casing normally done after 14 days i.e. after 2 weeks.
Care after Casing:
After casing, favorable condition for mycelial growth is;
I. Bed temp. 24 °C
ii. RH 100%
iii. CO2 acceptable and may be beneficial upto 1%.
-These condition are to be maintained until mycelium nearly reached the surface of casing.
– It is better to reduce temperature of compost 3-6 °C before casing.
- Harvesting / Picking:
– Mushroom are picked or harvested just before the cap expands and gills are exposed.
– Opened mushrooms are inferior and have shorter shelf life so Closed mushrooms are always preferred.
– The mushrooms are picked by holding the caps in the finger tips, slightly pressed against the soil and gently twisting and pulling simultaneously till they loosen from the soil and mycelial thread binding it to the soil are snapped.
– Another practice is to chopped off the stem as close to the soil surface as possible.
– After the mushroom or clump of mushroom has been picked the remaining fleshy tissue of the stalk should be carefully removed from the soil and these holes should be ploughed with fresh sterilized casing soil.
- Grading:
– For a sell as a fresh mushroom they are generally graded a/t the accepted international standard.
I. Bottons:
– Mushroom with membrane closed only just forming; stem length not to exceed 2 cm; cup measuring 3-6 cm across.
II. Cups:
– Mushroom with membrane well developed or just opening with cap retaining a pronounced cup shape; stem length not to exceed 2.5-3 cm.
III. Opens:
– Mushroom which have advanced beyond the cup stage, the cap forming a letter ‘T’ with the stalk; cap diameter 5-7 cm and stem length not to exceed 2.5-3 cm. These mushrooms are also called ‘flats’.
- Processing of Mushrooms:
– Mushrooms are highly pericible and therefore they have to be processed for preserving their shelf life.
– There are various method for its preservation:
I. Drying
ii. Freezing: -128 °C liquid Nitrogen
iii. Dry Freezing
iv. Steeping preservation: boil in hot sodium chloride water.
v. Canning