Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XX
Written by Mihai Bogdan NICOLCIOIU, Gabriela POPA , Florentina MATEI
Increasing demand for edible or medicinal mushrooms has led to investigation into the suitability of sawdust and agricultural wastes as substrates for commercial production. Effective use of bio-resources by waste-free processing and production of nutraceuticals or ingredients for functional foods are the main directions in biotechnology. The aim of this work was to evaluate the growth capacity of mushroom mycelia on substrates of sawdust or agricultural wastes mixed with different amendments. Four variants of agricultural substrates (wheat and sorghum each of them mixed with CaSO4 and dolomite amendments) and seven mushroom species (Flammulina velutipes, Laetiporus sulphureus, Ganoderma lucidum, Ganoderma applanatum, Hericium coralloides, Trametes versicolor and Lepista nuda) were used. The mycelial cultures were initially grown in Petri dishes on 2 % malt extract agar or PDA media at 25°C in the dark. After one week, the mycelium of each mushroom species was transferred to different sterilized grain, wheat, sorghum or barley straws or sawdust as substrates with various amendments. Various degrees of grain coverage with mycelia depending on substrate and mushroom species were obtained. The results obtained give the possibility of high quality inoculum using cheap renewable resources and the future extension of the research at the mushroom farm for evaluating the effectiveness of this inoculum for fruiting bodies obtaining. Better utilization of these recyclable materials by mushroom cultivation releases important land surfaces and also eliminates the polluting factors from the terrestrial ecosystems. After finishing the culture cycle, the spent substrate represents a valuable reusable resource as constituent material in nutritional mixtures for horticultural cultures, in bioremediation of some degraded soils or contaminated with various pollutants, of waste water, having a positive impact on improving the sorrounding environment.
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