Growing Reishi Mushrooms

7/30/2019 Growing Reishi Mushrooms

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Cultivationof

Reishi Mushroom(Gan oder m a l u ci d u m)

National Research Centre for Mushroom

(I n d i a n Cou n ci l of Agr i cu l t u r a l Resea r ch )

Chambaghat, Solan - 173 213 (HP)


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INTRODUCTION

Reish i (Ganoder m a l u ci dum) is

pharmacologically as well as commercially the

most important medicinal mushroom in thew orld w ith current globa l t ra de of about 2 billion

dollers; tra de in India ha s crossed Rs. 100 crores

annually through imports from Malaysia and

China.

Reishi is reported to possess a plethora of very

significant medicinal values- anticancer, anti-

HIV, antiheart attack (cholesterol lowering as

we l l a s an t i - an g io gen ic ) , Hep a to - an dnephrotoprotective, hypoglycemic (a nti-dia betes),

a n t ioxida n t s et c. In C h inese a nd J a pa nese

systems of medicine Reishi is a lmost a pa na cea .

Recently, the National Research Centre for

Mushroom made a breakthrough in developing

the cultivation technology of Reishi, which is

described here. Fa rmers a nd ent repreneurs ca n

take up the production of this mushroom andha rvest rich dividends.

Strains:True-to-the-type genuine DNA-

fingerprinted exot ic cultures a re a va ilable in theNRCMs Mushroom Gene Bank; Korean, Thai

a nd America n cultures a re excellent .

PRODUCTION SYSTEM

Reishi ca n be grown by the fa rmers sea sona lly

in the low cos t g rowing rooms pre ferab ly

polyhouses and also in the environmentally-

controlled cropping rooms by the industrialists.As the mushroom i s in tended to be used

exclusively as medicine, i t has to be grown

organically; seasonal farmers have to put up

polycover on the aside top and sides of the

thatched huts and utmost hygienic conditions


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ha ve to be ma inta ined to prevent disea ses a nd

pests as no toxic chemical is to be used for

controlling the same.

Reishi is grow n on t he sa w dust of t he

broad-leaved trees (mango, poplar, coconut,

sheesham). Sawdust, obtained from the saw

mills, is a mended w it h 20% w hea t bra n a nd is

w et t ed t o a level of 65% moist ur e. Ca lcium

sulpha te (gypsum) and ca lc ium carbona te

(Chalk powder) are added to get a pH of 5.5.

The mixed subst ra t e (700 g dr y w t ; 2.1 kg w et )

Pin heads of Reishi

Cap formation and growth


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is filled in polypropylene bags the mouth of

w hich is then plugged w ith cot ton a fter put t ing

a pla stic ring exa ct ly like w hea t gra in spa w n

pack of mushrooms in polybags.

The bags are then sterilized in autoclave

a t 22 p.s.i. for 2 hrs. After cooling, the subst ra te

i s s p a w n e d w i t h w h e a t g r a i n o r s a w d u s t

spa w n @ 3% on t he dry w eight ba sis, a s it is

compa ra t ively a slow grow ing fungus. S pa w n-

run (incubation) is done at 28-35 C in the

c l o s e d r o o m s ( h i g h c a r b o n d i o x i d e ) a n d

da rkness. After t he complete spa w n run (ba gs

white al l over) , which takes about 25 days,polythene top is cut a t the level of the substra te

t o t a l l y e x p o s i n g t h e t o p s i d e a n d p r o p e r

condit ions for fru it ing or pinning (t emp. 28 C ,

1500 ppm CO2, 800 lux ligh t , 95% RH ) a reprovided.

Once the pins have grown up enough to

f o r m t h e c a p w h i c h i s i n d i c a t e d b y t h e

flattenning of the whitish top of the pinhead,humidity is reduced t o 80% RH a nd m ore fresh

a ir is int roduced (1000 ppm CO2). Once the ca p

is fully form ed, w hich is indica t ed by yellow ing

Mature spore shedding Reishi


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of the ca p ma rgin (w hich is ot herw ise w hit e),

temperature is lowered to 25 C and RH is

fur t her r educed t o 60% for ca p t h ickenin g,

reddening a nd ma tura t ion of the fruitbodies.

Full ma t urity is indica ted, w hen th e ca p is

fully reddish brow n a nd spores a re shed on t he

top of t he ca p (see the photogra ph). H a rvest ing

is done by t he t ight plucking, holding t he root

with one hand and pulling up with another;

scissors and knives can also be used but no

residua l bud is left a fter ha rvest ing. One cycle

o f t h e g r o w i n g t a k e s 1 0 - 1 5 d a y s . A f t e r

h a r v e s t i n g t h e f i r s t f l u s h , c o n d i t i o n s f o rpinning are aga in swi tched on ( i .e . 28 C ,

95%R H , 1500 ppm C O2, 800 lux light) for

s t a r i n g a n d c o m p l e t i n g t h e s e c o n d f l u s h .

Depending upon the conditions, 2-3 flushesa ppea r a nd a t ot a l 25% B .E . ca n be a chieved

(250 g f res h mu s h ro o m f ro m o n e kg d ry

substra t e). One crop ta kes a bout four mont hs.

H a rvested mushrooms, a ft er w a shing w it hwater, are dried at low temperature (


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P i t d t Y t P k h P t Ltd N D lhi

Sawdust +

Wheat bran

Sawdust or

Wheat grain

Substrate

Spawn

Wetting

(65%)

Pasteurization

22 p.s.i for 2hrs

Spawning

@ 3% dry wt. basis

Incubation(28-32C, high CO2, dark)

Pinning(28-32C, RH 95%, 1500ppm CO2, light>800 lux)

Cap formation and growth

(28C, RH 80%, 1000ppm CO2 )

Maturation(25C, RH 60%)

Harvesting

Drying (

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Growing Reishi Mushrooms