2007 Volume 3 Pages 58-64
Extracts from some edible mushrooms could supplement important substances for fruiting body formation of straw mushrooms. Crude extracts from young fruiting bodies of Pleurotus ostreatus, Lentinula edodes and Agrocybe cylindracea were diluted and added to potato dextrose agar (PDA) before sterilization. The supplemented agar plates were inoculated with straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) agar plugs and the growth of the colony was measured after 3 and 7 days. The supplementation with the aqueous extract of P. ostreatus resulted in a faster growth and denser mycelia of the straw mushroom than that of the control or the other extract-supplemented media. Twenty ml each of the original solution and the two dilutions (1:1 and 1:3) of the P. ostreatus extract was sprayed on the surface of moist cotton waste already fully colonized by straw mushroom mycelia. After 5 days, the dilution of 1:1 significantly stimulated fruiting body formation. This dilution was applied 4 times to the colonized cotton waste substrates before primordial formation. Yield of early mature stage fruiting bodies increased over the control by a percentage of 40. The supplementation with the aqueous extract from P. ostreatus could help to induce fruiting bodies and increase the yield of straw mushrooms.
