University of Mauritius Doctoral Consortium Research Week An Assessment of the Potential of Locally Available Substrate Materials for the Cultivation of Agaricus Mushroom (Button Mushroom) CHUKOWRY Nalini Devi(Miss) ID: Mphil/PhD Student Faculty of Agriculture Main Supervisor-Associate Professor B.Lalljee (FoA) Co-Supervisor –Dr. R.Jeewon (FoS) 1

Mushroom Belong to Kingdom Fungi They are fruiting bodies of macro fungi Chief recyclers of the planet Can be Poisonous- Amanitaspp. Non poisonous- Lentinula spp. 2

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. 3

Popular cultivated mushroom 4 Button mushroom Shiitake Straw mushroom Wood ear mushroom Oyster mushroom

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 5

Mushroom research in Mauritius Mushroom cultivation was initiated locally at the end of the 1970’s 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. 6

Agaricus Mushroom Basidiomycota family Most popular mushroom world wide Also known as button mushroom Popular species-bisporus, bitorquis, blazei 7

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 8

Growth requirement of Agaricus Suitable mushroom cultures Spawn Substrate materials Good casing material Suitable environment 9

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 10

Agaricus mushroom – most popular mushroom in Mauritius Research on Agaricus mushroom cultivation started in the 1970’s 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 11

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 12

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 13

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 14

Introduction of strains of Agaricus from USA & successful sub culturing on agar media Agaricus bitorquis Agaricus blazei Agaricus bisporus 15 Strains growing on agar media

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 16

Determination of optimum growth pH and temperature Composting potential of identified substrates Evaluation of in vitro growth of strains on substrates 17

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 18

Thank You 19