GROWING GOURMET - Anto2ni.it

When I was a impoverished, near-starving student
living in a remote, unheated 'A' frame house
in the boondocks, Jeff Chilton generously delivered
flats of fresh Shiitake which I eagerly
consumed, cooked and raw. (Since I was so hungry,
I didn't care.) To this day Shiitake is the only
mushroom I enjoy without the benefit of cooking,
fully await that their potential nutritional contribution
is largely untapped.
GROWTH PARAMETERS 273
Comments: By comparing Shiitake to Oyster
(P. ostreatus) mushrooms, several notable
similarities and differences in their growth requirements
are unveiled. Shiitake can not be
grown on the wide range of substrates that the
highly adaptive Oyster mushrooms can exploit.
Both are phototropic, with Shiitake
primordia most stimulated by light exposure of
100-200 lux of green to ultra-violet at 370-420
nanometers (Ishikawa, 1967) while Oyster
mushrooms maximally produce mushrooms at
2000 lux at 440-495 nanometers (Eger et al.,1974). I find that although Shiitake primordia are stimulated
into formation at this low light level, the development of the fruitbody is retarded unless light
levels are increased. Since primordia formation can span a week, I prefer to give the blocks the higher
exposure of light initially rather than risking malformation later on. Furthermore, Shiitake produces
fairly normal looking mushrooms under high carbon dioxide conditions (> 10,000 ppm) while Oyster
mushrooms deform with exaggerated stems and under-developed caps. Other notable distinctions are
that Shiitake have a thicker cap, a distinct cap cuticle, a lower spore load, and a markedly longer shelf
than the Oyster mushroom.
The cultivation of Shiitake on sterilized, supplemented sawdust calls for a set of techniques very
different than for most other mushrooms. (The formula for production is described on page 162.)
Shiitake strains are abundant, most will produce, but a few are remarkably more aggressive than others.
Exceptionally aggressive strains of Shiitake tend to be warm weather races, tolerant of
temperatures up to 90° F (32° C.). By employing a super-aggressive strain of Shiitake, propagating
the mycelium according to the procedure outlined above, inoculating at a high rate, and using asthe
base medium a rapidly decomposing hardwood (red alder- Alnus rubra) has allowed me to accelerate
the Shiitake life cycle far faster than any which has been published to date. If the supplemented
bags of sawdust are agitated 7-10 days after inoculation, primordia formation is triggered soon thereafter.
This method causes fruitbody formation in as short as 14 days from inoculation.*
Figure 252. A Shiitake wine marketed in Japan.
* However, agitation of partially sterilized bags often results in a contamination bloom. These same bags would other-
wise be completely colonized by the mushroom mycelium if left undisturbed. With sufficiently high spawning rates
(10-20% wet weight spawn/wet weight substrate) secondary shaking post inoculation is unnecessary.
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