Earticle

Agrocybe cylindracea was cultured in a bag, in which sawdust culture medium (1 kg) is put in a plastic bag (PE), with poplar sawdust, rice bran, wheat bran, and dried bean curd refuse in the ratio of 70:10:10:10 (v/v). 2% of the culture medium was inoculated with the liquid starter of Agrocybe cylindracea, and this was incubated at 25oC. After incubation, the A. cylindracea was further cultured by cutting the top vinyl portion of the bag down to the level of the culture medium surface of the first inoculation part. The cut culture medium was placed in a growth room at 25oC, and pin-heading was induced under light irradiation at 99% humidity and 1,000 ppm CO2 level for 3days. When the grow the environment was controlled at 95% humidity and 21oC, the bending of the stem was less as compared to that when the cap of the bag had been removed. The number of effective fruiting bodies per bag increased by 140% (28.8), the quantity per bag increased by 29.5%, and 148.5 g A. cylindracea could be potentially harvested.

We assessed the growth characteristics of Auricularia polytricha ‘Geoni’ cultivated in a simple greenhouse constructed of polyethylene (PE) without air conditioning (high temperature) and in an air conditioned mushroomhouse. The successful cultivation of A. polytricha ‘Geoni’ at high temperatures can reduce energy and facility investment costs. The comparison of growth characteristics of the fungi grown under the different temperature conditions revealed that fruit bodies were larger in the higher temperature condition, but were brighter in the lower temperature condition. Additionally, fruit body physiology was found to be not affected by temperature. In the PE greenhouse, the fresh weight of fruit body was higher in mid-June and early July. Therefore, it was possible to effectively control the growth period of the mushrooms during a high-temperature period. The findings indicate the potential to cultivate A. polytricha ‘Geoni’in a simple PE greenhouse that is not cooled in summer, thus reducing energy costs.

An auxin-producing bacterium Yangsong-1 was isolated from a button mushroom bed in Chung cheongnam-do. The strain Yangsong-1 was classified as a novel strain of Arthrobacter enclensis based on a chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analysis. The isolated A. enclensis Yangsong-1 was confirmed to produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), which is one of the auxin hormones. When the concentration of IAA was assessed by HPLC quantity analysis, the maximum concentration of IAA, 152.903 mg L-1, was detected from the culture broth incubated in R2A medium containing 0.2% L-tryptophan for 48 h at 35oC. A negative relationship between IAA production and pH was estimated to show that the increase in IAA caused pH acidification of the culture. The effect of the supplement on L-tryptophan, a known precursor of IAA production, appeared to be at maximal production at 0.2% concentration and was rather reduced at concentration above 0.4%. To investigate the growth-promoting effects on the crops, the culture broth of A. enclensis Yangsong-1 was placed in water cultures and seed pots of mung beans and lettuce. In consequence, the adventitious root induction and root growth of mung beans and lettuce were 1.5 and 1.9 times higher, respectively, than those of the control.

A gram-positive bacterium was isolated from the spent substrate of Agaricus bisporus that showed a marked antagonistic activity against Pseudomonas agarici. It was identified as Bacillus safensis HC42 based on its cultural, biochemical, and physiological characteristics, and 16S rRNA sequence. B. safensis HC42 was saprophytic, but not parasitic or pathogenic, in cultivated mushrooms and showed strong inhibition of P. agarici in vitro. Moreover, it showed a control efficacy of 66 % against browning disease caused by P. agarici in Agaricus bisporus. Therefore, B. safensis HC42 may be useful in the future for the development of a biocontrol system.

The physicochemical characteristics of oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) cultivated using liquid spawn (MLS) were compared with those of commercial mushrooms cultivated using solid spawn. The color intensity of the two types of mushrooms showed no remarkable difference. The hardness of the MLS-cultivated mushrooms was significantly higher, but their moisture content (86.80%) was significantly lower than that of the commercial mushrooms. Mineral contents in MLS-cultivated mushrooms (421.17 mg/100 g) were significantly higher than those in the commercial mushrooms (333.26–362.78 mg/100 g); in particular, the potassium (K) content was the most abundant in the former. The amino acid content in the MLS-cultivated mushrooms (4,695.22 mg/100 g) was about 1.4–2.0 times that in the commercial mushrooms. The essential amino acid contents and sum of aspartic acid and glutamic acid were higher in the MLS-cultivated mushrooms than in the commercial mushrooms. The β-glucan content in the MLS-cultivated mushrooms was 1.1–2.3 times higher than that in the commercial mushrooms. The total phenol and flavonoid contents and the DPPH and ABTS radical-scavenging activities of the MLS-cultivated mushrooms were significantly higher than those of the commercial mushrooms; however, the reducing power showed an opposite trend. Therefore, MLS-cultivated mushrooms contained higher amounts of valuable components and higher antioxidant activities than commercial mushrooms.

In the present study, physiological activities of hot water extracts and 70% ethanol extracts of three types of medicinal mushrooms (Hericium erinaceus, Cordyceps militaris, and Ganoderma lingzhi) produced in Korea and China were investigated. Both the hot-water and 70% ethanol extracts of H. erinaceus and C. militaris from Korea displayed the highest 2,2- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazy radical scavenging activities. Nitrite scavenging activities of hotwater extracts of G. lingzhi from Korea and China (41% and 39%, respectively) were higher than the activities of 70% ethanol extracts. Total polyphenol contents of hot water extracts of H. erinaceus and C. militaris from Korea were higher than those of 70% ethanol extracts. The ethanol extracts of G. lingzhi from Korea displayed the highest total polyphenol content. C. militaris from Korea displayed the highest β-glucan level (45.11%). β-glucan content of H. erinaceus from China (30.87%) was higher than H. erinaceus from Korea (16.94%). The findings indicate that healthy ingredients can be maximally extracted using the optimal solvents for each mushroom. These results will be useful in understanding the difference in physiological activities between the solvents used for the extraction of medicinal mushrooms from Korea and China.