Edible mushrooms: from industrial cultivation to collection from the wild
2007
INTRODUCTION
The domestication and agronomical
production of edible mushrooms has a
relatively short history compared to that of
staple crops and of many vegetables and fruits
(Janick, 2005). A method for the cultivation of a
Chinese mushroom, shiitake, Lentinula edodes,
is known from 1313 AD (Wang, 1987). The
cultivation of the white button mushroom,
Agaricus bisporus, was described for the first
time by Tournefort (1707). All edible
mushroom species that can be cultivated in a
system comparable to the industrial cultivation
of the white button mushroom are saprobic,
being able to use dead organic matter for their
growth. Boa (2004) estimates the number of
saprobic species that can be cultivated as
almost 100. Several valuable edible fungi, in
particular ectomycorrhizal species like truffles
(Tuber magnatum and Tricholoma melanosporum), matsutake (Tricholoma matsutake), kings
boletes (Boletus edulis), and chanterelles
(Cantharellus cibarius) cannot yet be produced
agronomically. At best, semi-natural cultivation systems (e.g., truffle orchards) have been
developed (Hall et al., 2003a).
INDUSTRIAL CULTIVATION OF WHITE
BUTTON MUSHROOMS, AGARICUS
BISPORUS
White button mushrooms require two
substrates for cultivation. A layer of compostnourishes the mycelium and a layer of casing
soil covers the compost allowing the mycelium
to form fruit bodies. Compost production and
the cultivation process have been described in
various handbooks (Flegg et al., 1985; van
Griensven, 1988; Oei and Maas, 2003; Chang
and Miles, 2004). China, the U.S.A. and The
Netherlands are the most important producers
of white button mushrooms. Productions in
these countries are, respectively, 600, 380 and
260 x 103 tonnes annually; the statistics from
China need to be taken with caution. The
following key data characterize the mushroom
industry in the Netherlands. Almost 400 kg of
mushrooms can be produced per tonne of full
grown compost; this amount of compost being
filled on a surface area of about 10 m2. The
amounts of full grown compost and of
casing soil used annually are about 700 and
380 x 103 tonnes. Due to the short growing
cycle, about eight crops of mushrooms per
year can be grown in a cultivation room. The
net surface area for mushroom growing is over
100 ha. The rest-product of mushroom
cultivation is called spent mushroom
substrate, SMS. The amount of SMS produced
is about 850 x 103 tonnes; this is marketed as a
fertilizer in horticultural crops. The number of
full-time jobs in primary production is
currently about 5000. Key data for the
Netherlands may be extrapolated to other
countries, although compost-to-mushroom
conversion and labour efficiency are
considerably lower.
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