GROWING GOURMET - Anto2ni.it

ice, oat and sorghum straws are the best. Hay,
resplendent with abundant bunches of seed
kernels, should not be used as the grain kernels
tend to contaminate. However, limited
numbers of grain kernels generally boost
yields. Royse (1988) found that yields of Oyster
mushrooms from wheat straw are
enhanced by the addition of 20% alfalfa without
increasing the risk of contamination.Alfalfa,
by itself, is "too hot" to use because of its elevated
nitrogen content. Straw supports all the
gourmet Oyster mushrooms, including
Pleurotus citrinopileatus, P. cystidiosus, P.
djamoi P eryngii, P euosmus, P ostreatus andP
pulmonarius. Other mushrooms, King Stropharia
(Stropharia rugoso-annulata), Shaggy Manes
(Coprinus comatus), the Paddy Straw
(Volvariella volvacea), and Button (Agaricus
spp.) mushrooms also thrive on straw-based
substrates, often benefiting from modest supple-
CULTIVATING GOURMET MUSHROOMS 183
Figure 142. Shredding straw. Figure 143. simple and easy method for pasteurizing
straw (and other bulk materials). The drum is
filled with water and heated with the propane
burner at 160° F. (71° C.) for 1-2 hours.
mentation. The specifics for cultivation of each
of these species are discussed further on, in
Chapter 21.
Heat Treating the
Bulk Substrate
Bulk substrates like straw are generally pasteurized
(as opposed to sterilized) and upon
cooling, inoculated with grain spawn. Pasteurization
selectively kills off populations of
temperature-sensitive micro-organisms. The
population left intact presents little competition
to the mushroom mycelium for
approximately two weeks, giving ample opportunity
for the mushroom mycelium to
colonize. If not colonized within two weeks,
the straw naturally contaminates with other
fungi, irrespective of the degree of pasteuriza-
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