University of Mauritius

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• University of Mauritius
• Doctoral Consortium
• Research Week 2009-2010
• An Assessment of the Potential of Locally
  Available Substrate Materials for the Cultivation
  of Agaricus Mushroom (Button Mushroom)
• CHUKOWRY Nalini Devi(Miss)
• ID 0701726
• Mphil/PhD Student
• Faculty of Agriculture
• Main Supervisor-Associate Professor B.Lalljee
  (FoA)
• Co-Supervisor Dr. R.Jeewon (FoS)

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Background Information

• Mushroom
• Belong to Kingdom Fungi
• They are fruiting bodies of macro fungi
• Chief recyclers of the planet
• Can be
• Poisonous- Amanita spp.
• Non poisonous- Lentinula spp.

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Background Information

• Mushroom
• Nutritive value-contains protein, vitamin B D,
  sodium, potassium phosphorus
• Medicinal value-antitumour (Ganoderma Spp.),
• cholesterol reduction (Pleurotus Spp.)
  antiviral/antibacterial properties (Lentinus
  Spp.)
• Popular cultivated mushrooms are- Agaricus,
  Lentinus, Pleurotus, Auricularia and Volvariella
  Spp.

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Background Information

• Popular cultivated mushroom

Button mushroom
Oyster mushroom
Straw mushroom
Shiitake
Wood ear mushroom
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Background Information

• Mushroom consumption cultivation in Mauritius
• Most of the mushroom consumed are imported
• Button mushroom remains most popular
• Small quantity of Shiitake, Oyster mushroom and
  Wood Ear mushroom also consumed
• About 70 tonnes of oyster msuhroom and 250 kg of
  shittake are produced annually

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Background Information

• Mushroom research in Mauritius
• Mushroom cultivation was initiated locally at the
  end of the 1970s
• Cultivation of button mushroom has been attempted
  but was abandoned due to unsuitability of the
  strain for our tropical climate
• Few growers have attempted shiitake and wood ear
  mushroom cultivation
• Research work on button mushroom is still lagging
  behind and Mauritians are still showing interest
  for the cultivation and consumption of Agaricus
  mushroom.

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Background Information

• Agaricus Mushroom
• Basidiomycota family
• Most popular mushroom world wide
• Also known as button mushroom
• Popular species-bisporus, bitorquis, blazei

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Background Information

• Agaricus mushroom cultivation in the world
• Cultivation of Agaricus has reached a level of
  perfection in many countries
• Several tropical and subtropical strains are now
  available for cultivation in different parts of
  the world

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Background Information

• Growth requirement of Agaricus
• Suitable mushroom cultures
• Spawn
• Substrate materials
• Good casing material
• Suitable environment

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Background

• Steps involved in Agaricus cultivation
• Selection of species
• Selection of fruiting culture
• Preparation of spawn
• Preparation of compost(phase I and phase II)
• Spawn run
• Casing
• Mushroom development
• Harvest

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Problem Statement

• Agaricus mushroom most popular mushroom in
  Mauritius
• Research on Agaricus mushroom cultivation started
  in the 1970s was abandoned due to the
  requirement of sophisticated and expensive
  technologies
• Since then, no further research and cultivation
  attempts have been conducted to cultivate button
  mushrooms locally

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Rationale of the Study

• Preference for Agaricus mushroom rather than the
  locally produced Pleurotus mushroom
• Unavailability of a cultivation package for
  Agaricus
• Availability of several tropical and sub tropical
  strains of Agaricus from foreign mycological
  laboratories
• Use of potential locally available materials for
  Agaricus cultivation
• Reuse of agro wastes - reduce the level of
  pollution caused through dumping of these wastes
  in the environment

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Objectives of the Study

• Introduction of strains of Agaricus spp.
• Identification of suitable agar media, pH and
  incubation temperatures for growth of button
  mushroom mycelium
• Identification of suitable substrates,
  supplementation materials and substrate mixtures
  for cultivation of Agaricus mushroom
• Determination of effect of composting on growth
  of mushroom mycelium
• Development of a mother spawn and spawn
  production protocol of Agaricus mushroom
• Economic analysis for the cultivation package
  proposed and provide a cultivation package of
  Agaricus

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Research Methodology

• A number of activities has been proposed to
  achieve the objectives
• Introduction of strains of Agaricus
• Assessment of in vitro behaviour of Agaricus on
  agar media at different temperatures and pH.
• Assessment of in vitro performance of the strains
  on different substrate materials
• Study of the effect of different supplementation
  materials on in vitro performance of the mushroom
  strains
• Preparation of appropriate formulations of
  mother spawn and spawn of Agaricus mushroom
• Preparation of appropriate compost formulations
  and management of fructification

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Completed Activity

• Introduction of strains of Agaricus from USA
  successful sub culturing on agar media
• Agaricus bitorquis
• Agaricus blazei
• Agaricus bisporus

Strains growing on agar media
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Ongoing activities

• Assessment of in vitro behaviour of strains
  growing on different agar media such as
• Potato dextrose agar, malt extract agar, corn
  meal agar, potato carrot agar, oat meal agar,
  wheat agar, potato dextrose yeast agar
• Chemical analysis of potential substrates to
  determine
• Nitrogen, potassium, sodium, calcium, phosphorus,
  magnesium, manganese, selenium, boron, iron,
  zinc, molybdenum, copper

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Forthcoming Activities for year 2010

• Determination of optimum growth pH and
  temperature
• Composting potential of identified substrates
• Evaluation of in vitro growth of strains on
  substrates

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Expected output

• Identification of at least 1 strain of Agaricus
  mushroom that could be grown on locally available
  substrates
• Development of a cultivation package of the
  button mushroom

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• Thank You