Earticle

For the bottle cultivation of pleurotus nebrodensis, poplar tree sawdust was a better substrate than corncobs in terms of primordia and growth characteristics. The nutrition rich substrate was cottonseed dregs, cottonseed coat, bran, corn powder, and rice bran. The mixing ratio was adjusted such that the nitrogen content was ≤ 58%; cotton seed dregs, at the level of 20%, were particularly necessary to adjust the nitrogen content for the substrates that had high total nitrogen content. Additionally, inclusion of calcium carbonate in the substrate was better for primordia and growth characteristics than inclusion of calcium hydroxide. In the absence of calcium carbonate, the elasticity of pileus and stipe decreased and their hardness increased. Therefore, the optimum substrate composition for the cultivation of Pleurotus nebrodensis was 40:20:20:15:3:2 mixing ratio of poplar tree sawdust, cottonseed dregs, cottonseed coat, bran, corn powder, and calcium carbonate.

This study aimed to characterize the mycelial morphologies of Hericium erinaceus isolates, including 18 wild-type collections and cultivatable species ‘Noru 1’ and ‘Noru 2’, in Korea. The morphological characteristics were used to classify the species based on aerial or branched mycelia and their brownish or whitish colors when grown on potato dextrose agar. Of the wild-type collections, the isolates KFRI 509, KFRI 1091, KFRI 1093, and KFRI 1623 showed faster mycelial growth than the cultivars ‘Noru 1’ and ‘Noru 2’. Moreover, 60% ethanol extracts of the fruiting body of the mushroom showed the highest phenol content and DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity. The DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities of KFRI 507, KFRI 508, KFRI 842, and KFRI 1623 were 10–60% higher than those of ‘Noru 1’ and ‘Noru 2’, depending on the extract concentrations. Thus, results suggest that these wild-type collections could be useful for breeding genetic sources or processed food materials with high antioxidant activity.

In order to breed a new Pleurotus eryngii cultivar exhibiting intermediate size and rapid growth, single crosses between 24×46 and KNR2539 were performed. The resulting new cultivar, 17×15, was chosen based on the required days to harvest (15.4 days), quality (7.5), and yield (81.5 g/850 cc bottle) obtained in a preliminary test. The strain was named Aeryni 6 and cultivated at mushroom farms on a large scale for comparison with the reference cultivar Kenneutari No. 2. The yield of Aeryni 6 (76.0 g) was 113.0% compared with the reference cultivar, Kenneutari No. 2, and its quality was 6.8, while that of the reference strain was 5.7. An independent t-test revealed significant differences between the days for harvest, yield, and quality of the two cultivars. The new and reference cultivars were discriminated by PCR amplification of URP2 and URP11 and a confrontation cultivation.

This study was performed to determine optimal extraction conditions of fermented Polygonum multiflorum root by Lentinula edodes (JMI10079) Pegler mycelials using response surface methodology. The independent factors were extraction temperature (X1: 40–100oC), extraction time (X2: 2–10 hrs.), and the ratio of water to sample (X3: 33–100 mg/mL). Their effects were assessed on dependent variables of the extract properties, which included soluble solid contents (Y1), °Brix of sample extract (Y2), total polyphenol content (Y3), total flavonoid content (Y4), 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) radical cation scavenging activity (Y5) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity (Y6). The experimental data obtained were fit to a second-order polynomial equation. The optimal extraction conditions for fermented P. multiflorum root were: X1: 91.22°C, X2: 7.72 hrs, and X3: 39.71 mg/mL.

This study investigated the synergistic effect of single inoculation and co-inoculation of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) Pantoea rodasil LH-1and Burkholderia stabilis HS-7. Phosphate-solubilizing abilities of these strains were assessed by measuring phosphorus content in culture media that were singly inoculated or co-inoculated with these strains for 7 days. The co-inoculation of P. rodasil LH-1and B. stabilis HS-7 was found to release the highest content of soluble phosphorus (783.41 μg mL-1) into the medium, followed by single inoculation of B. stabilis HS-7B (743.90 μg mL-1) and P. rodasil LH-1 (736.59 μg mL-1). The highest pH reduction, organic acid production, and glucose consumption were also observed in the medium inoculated with both the strains, compared with that in the medium inoculated with the strain alone. Results of a plant growth promotion bioassay showed 7.7% and 15.5% higher leaf and root growth, respectively, in romaine lettuce coinoculated with P. rodasil LH-1and B. stabilis HS-7 than those inoculated with the strain alone. However, no significant difference was observed between single inoculation and co-inoculation of these strains with respect to phosphorus release and plant growth. Although the results of the present study did remarkdly not show the synergistic effect of phosphate solubilization by co-inoculation of the PSB strains examined, these results indicate that treatment with PSB exerts a beneficial effect on crop growth.

We investigated the possibility of utilizing spent mushroom culture-medium as raw material to produce organic compost. Mushroom culture-medium contained 2.69% nitrogen, 41.07% carbon, and 0.99% phosphoric acid. Nitrogen and carbon content in rice bran were 3.08% and 47.34%, respectively. Nitrogen, carbon, and phosphoric acid content in mushroom Pleurotus eryngii were 3.41%, 34.63%, and 1.70%, respectively. Our study aimed to evaluate the degree of decay of compost produced from the substrate, used to culture King Oyster mushrooms by analyzing seed germination indexes in cucumber, radish, lettuce, and Chinese cabbage. Our results showed that compost from spent mushroom culture-medium completed the stabilization process in 4 to 6 weeks, as evaluated by the appropriate organic compost maturity point for the plantation.

This study was performed to compare medium characteristics during the composting stage for medium turning performed using an excavator agitator and a prototype medium turner in button mushroom cultivation. The changes in temperature in the medium did not significantly differ between the treatments until the 3rd turn performed using the excavator agitator. However, during the 4th and 5th turns, the temperature increased during turning with the prototype medium turner. During outdoor composting, various types of microorganisms such as thermophilic bacteria (Bacillus spp.), Actinomycetes, fluorescent Pseudomonas spp., and filamentous fungi were found to be distributed in the medium. The counts of aerobic bacteria and fluorescent Pseudomonas spp. did not significantly differ between treatments, and the counts of thermophilic bacteria and thermophilic actinomycetes were slightly higher during turning with the prototype medium turner. The rice straw was slightly shorter and water content lower for the prototype medium turner. There was no significant difference between pH and EC treatments. The L, a, and b values tended to increase on turning with the prototype medium turner.

In Korea, the oak mushroom (Lentinula edodes) is highly preferred by consumers in the food industry and makes up about 97.7% of the total forest mushroom production. This indicates that the oak mushroom is an important non-timber forest product in Korea. Recently, the breeding and development of new cultivars of L. edodes have been actively initiated, and the development of molecular markers that are able to identify and discriminate the new cultivars is crucial for protecting the breeder’s rights. This study was carried out to develop a cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) marker for the identification and discrimination of a new cultivar, Sanmaru 2ho from the 37 other oak mushroom cultivars. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was identified at the 1,803,483rd position of scaffold2 in the genome of Sanmaru 2ho. The amplified DNA containing the SNP of Sanmaru 2ho was uniquely not cleaved by the restriction enzyme, Hha I, and thus Sanmaru 2ho was successfully distinguished from the other oak mushroom cultivars.

Agricultural sticky traps are used for forecasting flying insects, including fungus gnat adults. Forecasting using sticky trap is an important measure to determine pesticides or environmentally friendly control means. Sticky traps of various colors can be installed easily and quickly. The yellow sticky trap is most effective for forecasting fungus gnat adults. In addition, they are used for control purposes by mass trapping. We tested the optimum installation height of yellow sticky traps to forecast and control the fungus gnat adults effectively in the cultivation of mushroom and horticultural plants. The number of captured fungus gnat adults was highest on the second floor for button mushroom and oyster mushroom, 100 cm above the floor for sawdust shiitake mushroom, 20 cm under the floor for hydroponic strawberry, and 20 cm above the floor for hydroponic tomato. This suggests that sticky trap height should be installed differently depending on the cultivation type or environment for effective forecasting and control of fungus gnat adults.