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Agaricus bisporus Production on Substrates Pasteurized by Self-Heating

Summary

This research demonstrates a simpler and faster way to prepare growing material for Portobello mushroom cultivation. Instead of the traditional 12-20 day composting process, researchers successfully used a 2-day self-heating method to prepare agricultural waste materials like grass and corncobs. When enhanced with proper supplements, this method produced mushroom yields comparable to conventional techniques. Impacts on everyday life: – Enables small-scale farmers to grow mushrooms with less infrastructure and investment – Reduces environmental impact by shortening the composting process that produces odors – Provides a way to convert agricultural waste into valuable food products – Makes mushroom cultivation more accessible to small producers – Could help increase local food production and food security

Background

Agaricus bisporus is the fourth most cultivated mushroom species globally, representing 15% of worldwide production. Traditional cultivation methods involve two composting phases that, while effective, present environmental challenges due to odors and slurries, and require significant time, labor and investment. The Phase I composting takes 6-14 days while Phase II involves pasteurization to reduce competitor microbiota. Alternative methods using non-composted sterilized or pasteurized substrates have been developed but none have been commercially adopted.

Objective

To determine if the self-heating pasteurization procedure is technically applicable to A. bisporus cultivation and if production yields are comparable to those obtained using the traditional two-phase composting method.

Results

The highest production values were achieved using Pangola grass supplemented with a mixture containing 25% each of soybean, black bean, wheat bran and chia, added at spawning and casing. This treatment produced biological efficiency of 176.3% and yields of 26.6 kg/m2, which were comparable to or better than traditional Phase II compost. The self-heating pasteurization process was completed in just 45 hours compared to 12-20 days for traditional methods. Contamination rates were low at 6.6% or less.

Conclusion

The study demonstrates that self-heating pasteurization is a viable alternative method for cultivating Portobello mushrooms. When proper supplement formulations are used, yields are statistically comparable to traditional substrates. This technique could be particularly suitable for small growers as it requires less time and infrastructure than conventional methods.
  • Published in:AMB Express,
  • Study Type:Experimental Study,
  • Source: 10.1186/s13568-017-0438-6
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