Renato G. Reyes

Indoor cultivation of paddy straw mushroom, Volvariella volvacea, in crates

The paddy straw mushroom, Volvariella volvacea (Bull.: Fr.) Singer, is considered to be one of the easiest mushrooms to cultivate due to its short incubation period of 14 days. It is a tropical species that thrives best at 30-35°C for mycelial development (Reyes et al., 1998a) and 28-30°C for fruiting body production (Reyes et al., 1998b). Being cellulolytic, the paddy straw mushroom can be grown on a number of cellulosic substrates such as cotton wastes, sugarcane bagasse, rice straw and stubbles (Chang, 1993; Khan and Dogar, 1991; Reyes et al., 1998b). The mushroom is traditionally cultivated on beds made of uncomposted and unpasteurized bundles of banana leaves or rice straw, tied at both ends and laid one on top of the other to form a bed. Mushroom beds which are exposed directly to the sun are covered with plastic sheets. However, the yield on mushroom beds is unstable and irregular, since the bed is subjected to microbial contamination and fluctuating environmental conditions. In order to improve and increase productivity, a step by step procedure on the indoor cultivation of paddy straw mushroom using rice straw as the main substrate is here described. The indoor cultivation method has three salient features: compo sting, pasteurisation and cultivation inside

Mineral Composition, Growth Performance and Yield of Pleurotus ostreatus on Rice Straw-Based Substrate Enriched with Natural Calcium Sources

Pleurotus ostreatus, which is one of the most widely cultivated mushrooms, generally contains low Ca. The present study focused on the influence of Ca supplementation in P. ostreatus using biological wastes including agricultural lime, eggshell and oyster shell. Addition of agricultural lime and eggshell powder resulted to higher yield and biological efficiency, and improved Ca level while using oyster shell powder did not vary with the control. Supplementation of all Ca sources reduced K and P contents; however, levels of Mg, Na, Si, Cl and S were generally increased. These findings suggest that varying levels of Ca from different sources can have a diverse effect on the mineral absorption efficacy of P. ostreatus.