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World production of mushrooms has been increasing 10-20% every year. Recently, Pleurotus eryngii and P. nebrodensis are very popular as new mushroom species for cultivation. Two kinds of mushrooms, Gumji (Ganoderma) and Soji, were described in old book of Samguksagi (History of the three kingdoms; 1145) in Koryo-dynasty. Many kinds of mushrooms were also described in more than 16 kinds of old books during Chosun-dynasty in Korea. One hundred and sixty commercial strains of 25 species in mushrooms were distributed to cultivators. By the way, only 8 varieties of them have registered variety protection. Mushroom industry as important export products developed from 1960 to 1980. Production of mushrooms as food was 181,828 metric tons valued at 800 billion Korean won in 2003. Isolated and identified substances from mushrooms are promising antifungal, antiinflammatory, antitumor, antiviral (anti-HIV), antibacterial & antiparasitic, antidiabetic, immunomodulating, kidney tonic, hepatoprotective, nerve tonic, and sexual potentiator. These substances can also be used for blood pressure regulation and effective against cardiovascular disorders, hypocholesterolemia & hyperlipidemia, and chronicbronchitis. Mushroom products including pharmaceuticals, tonics, healthy beverages, functional biotransformants, and processed foods have also became available on the markets. Compost and feed can likewise be made from mushroom substrates after harvest. The mushroom industry is already one of the fastest growing investment sectors in Korea. By the way, there is a need to strain improvement for variety protection, advanced cultivation technology at low cost for growers, and control of demand and supply for marketing in order to more upgrade development of mushroom industry in the future.

To study the cultural characteristics and wood rotting ability of the secondary mycellia of Armillaria mellea, it was cultivated on the various media. The optimal mycelial growth condition was 20∼27 and pH 5.0∼6.5 on PDB. A. mellea grew well on MEA, PDA and GP. Lactose and mannitol as carbon sources and glutamic acid as nitrogen sources were found to be effective as additives. A. mellea employed in this study have the characteristics of white rot types. Pine and oak wood were selected as candidates for sawdust substrate.

This experiment was carried out to examine on the physiological and cultural characteristics of commercial strain Kunneutari #3 of Pleurotus eryngii. The optimal medium suitable for mycelial growth was YM, and followed by MCM and PDA. Also this strain more faster mycelial growth as 6.1 ㎝/7days compared with commercial strain P. eryngii #1. The optimal mycelial growth temperature was 25∼30℃ . The fruitbody yield was increased 54% with 117±16 g/850㎖ and the fruitbody shape and qualities of this strain was good. And individual weight was 41±27 g. Spawn run of P. eryngii #3 in bottle cultivation took 30 days and also it took 21 days from scratching of inoculum to harvest that was shorter 3 days than P. eryngii #1, respectively. Therefore, it is expected that cultivation for P. eryngii #3 strain will improve farmer's income by enhancing efficiency of facilities and shorten 6 days on cultivation period, in addition, getting more growing cycle of P. eryngii.

Highly Activated Calcium(below HAC) is the oxidized calcium made by dissolving shell materials with high voltage about 15,000V and high temperature (1,500~5,000℃). This HAC is a material with a very high degree of purity without toxicant. This HAC decreases chemical reaction so the degree of being active and dissolving living material is outstanding. The effects of HAC on the propagation of mushrooms are following. In the case of the Pleurotus ostreatus, when controlling media moisture by mixing with the HAC, mycelium cultivating days were shortened by 2days. The day required for primordial formation after inoculation(DPI) were one day faster. The number of stem was 15 and individual weight was 248g/850cc, a 6.5% increase. In the case of Pleurotus eryngii, when controlling media moisture by mixing with the highly activated calcium, mycelium cultivating days were shortened by 3days. DPI were l day faster. The day required for colonization after inoculation was shortened by 6days and individual weight was 108.8g/850cc, a 9.7% increase. In the case of Flammulina velutipes, the highly activated calcium was the best for scraping up mycelium. Mycelium incubating days were shortened by 2days. DPI were shortened by 3days. The day required for colonization after inoculation was 1day faster and the period of cultivation was shortened by 3days. Individual weight was 165g/850cc, a 6.7% increase. In the case of Lentinula edodes, when mixing media with the highly cultivated calcium, cultivating days were shortened by 3 days. The days for becoming brown in color were 2 days faster and the days of the first harvest were shortened by 4 days. The weight of mushrooms was 169g/2kg, a 9.7% increase.

The results of examining selection of optimal mycelial growth condition excellent strain for determining the condition of Pleurotus cornucopiae are as follows. 1) Mycelial growth and density of P. cornucopiae were the highest in the medium of MCM(87.8mm/10d) followed by the order of PDA, YM, MEA and Czapek. 2) Optimal temperature for the mycelial growth and density of P. cornucopiae was shown to be 25℃, but the hyphae were dead at 5℃. The mycelial growth and density of KNAC2003 strain was the highest at 25℃(87.8mm/10d) followed by the order of 25, 30, 20, 35, 10 and 5℃. 3) Optimal pH for the mycelial growth and density was revealed to be 6.0(88.3mm/10d), but the mycelial growth and density were shown to be retarded in above or below pH 6.0.