GROWING GOURMET - Anto2ni.it

Figure 122. Inoculating mycelium into an Eberbach
holding sterilized water.
any contaminated surface. Each Erlenmeyer is
placed on stir plates or on a shaker table and
rotated at 100-200 rpm. for 48-72 hours. The
water broth is continuously stirred to allow transpiration
of metabolic gases and oxygen
absorption. The fluid has a milky-brown color
and is not translucent. Settling of the heavier
components is clearly visible when the stirring
process is interrupted.
Upon completion, 3000 milliliters of mycelium
are rendered in liquid form. The hyphae,
recovering from the damage of being cut by the
spinning blades of the blender, are stimulated
into vigorous re-growthAt a point several cells
away from the cut ends, nodes form on the cell
walls, new buds push out, and branch. A vast,
interconnected fabric of cells, a mycelial network,
forms. The branches fork continuously.
After two to four days of re-growth in the nutrient
enriched broth, each Erlenmeyer flask
GENERATING GRAIN SPAWN 149
becomes its own universe, hosting thousands of
star-shaped, three dimensional colonies of
mycelium. This is the stage idealfor inoculation
into sterilized substrates, especially in the generation
of grain spawn masters. (See Figure
120). Far more bioactive than the same mycehum
transferred from the two-dimensional
surface of a petri dish, each hyphal cluster
grows at an accelerated rate subsequent to transfer
to the grain media.
If, however, the liquid media is not used at its
peak rate of growth, and stirs for nearly a week,
the colonies lose their independence and coalesce
into a clearly visible contiguous mycelial
mat. Long mycelial colonies adhere to the interface
of the fluid surface and the inside of the
flask. Chains of mycelium collect downstream
from the direction of rotation. Soon after their
appearance, often overnight, the media becomes
translucent and takes on a rich amber color. A
large glob of mycelium collects on the surface
and can be mechanically retrieved with a pair of
tweezers, forceps, or scalpel, if desired. The remaining
clear amber fluid contains super-fine
satellite colonies and hyphal fragments. Bypassing
the fluid through a microporous filter, the
mycelium can be recaptured. This technique is
especially attractive for those whose goal is running
tests on small batches of myceium. With
many species I have grown, the conversion ratio
of sugar/wood to mycehium (dry weight) approaches
20%. This percentage of conversion is
nearly 80% biological efficiency, considered
good in the commercial cultivation of gourmet
mushrooms.
Step 6 Each of the three Erlenmeyer flasks
now contains 1000 ml. of nutrient, myceliumrich
broth.At 30 ml. per transfer, 100 1/2 gallon
(2 liter) grain-filled jars can be inoculated. Here
too, a pipette, back-filled syringe, burette, or
pump can be used. I prefer "free-pouring" 30
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