GROWING GOURMET - Anto2ni.it

GROWTH PARAMETERS 343
The Paddy Straw Mushroom of the Genus Volvariella
Prodigiously fast growing and one of my favorite mushrooms for for the table, this mushroom
thrives at warm temperatures (between 75-95° F. or 24-35° C.) and dies when temperatures drop below
45° F. (7° C.). This temperature range limits its cultivation in all but the warmest climates or
months of the year. In subtropical and tropical Asia, many farmers rely on the cultivation of
volvacea as a secondary source of income, making use of waste rice straw and cottonseed hulls. This
mushroom has become an economic mainstay in the agricultural economies of Thailand, Cambodia,
Vietnam, Taiwan and China.
Two methods have evolved for its cultivation. The first method is outdoors, simple, and low-tech,
owing its success to the rapidity of V. volvacea's life cycle. The second method has been developed for
intensive, indoor commercial cultivation, more closely resembling the composting procedures practiced
by the Agaricus industry in the promotion of Actinomyces colonies, except that manure is not
employed.
Volvariella volvacea (Bulliard: Fries) Singer
Figure 302. V volvacea mycelia at 4 and 2 days after inoculation onto malt extract agar.
Introduction: Once you have tasted fresh Paddy Straw mushrooms, it is easy to understand the high
esteem this mushroom has attained in Asia. I find fresh V volvacea to be one of the best of all edible
* Canned Paddy Straw mushrooms lack the richness of the fresh fnjitbodies.
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