A Study of Compost Added to a Casing Technique in Agaricus bisporus Cultivation from Phase III Bulk Compost

Abstract

<jats:p>The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the addition of different rates of colonized compost and formaldehyde treatment on production parameters (yield, biological efficiency, mushroom number, mushroom weight, and earliness) in a Dutch commercial casing using Phase III bulk compost as a base substrate for growing <jats:italic>Agaricus bisporus</jats:italic>. Four rates of spawn-run compost (0 g·m<jats:sup>−2</jats:sup>, 200 g·m<jats:sup>−2</jats:sup>, 400 g·m<jats:sup>−2</jats:sup>, and 600 g·m<jats:sup>−2</jats:sup>) and formaldehyde treatment (with or without) were used. The experiment was designed as a double factorial in a randomized complete block design. Each block contained six replicates per treatment (a compost bag with 20 kg). The compost added to casing (CACing) technique when applied properly and combined with the use of Phase III compost had significant benefits, including increased mushroom yield, weight, and reduced the growing cycle, especially with the rate of 600 g of spawn-run compost/m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup> of casing. On the other hand, the application of formalin reduced yield with or without the CACing technique, which implies the need for an alternative treatment for disinfection. An alternative method may either be thermal or chemical treatments to the casing such as using formaldehyde before mixing the casing with spawn-run compost and before the addition of casing above the colonized compost.</jats:p>

Tolerance to Lecanicillium fungicola and yield of Agaricus bisporus strains used in Brazil

“…In the chamber without addition of the pathogen, the highest yield was 21%, which is lower than the yields obtained in Europe by Straatsma et al (2013), PardoGiménez et al (2010) and Zied et al (2010b), which range from 12 to 43%, with growing cycles of approximately 32-45 days of harvest. Strains ABI 11/24, ABI 11/16, ABI 06/05, ABI 11/15 and ABI 07/06 may be considered the most appropriate for the cultivation in a controlled environment, because they had the highest yields (17.18-21%).…”

“…Mushroom yield and number of mushrooms per box were converted to yield (fresh weight of mushrooms divided by the fresh weight of compost and multiplied by 100), and individual average mushroom weight (fresh weight of mushrooms divided by the number of mushrooms), following the methodology adopted by Zied et al (2010b). Yield in 2nd experiment was calculated through all biomass produced at the surface of the casing layer, including healthy mushrooms, bubbles and other mushrooms deformed due to the action of L. fungicola.…”

Agaricus bisporus production on substrates pasteurized by self-heating

“…However, in the case of self-heating pasteurization, the total length of the treatment and the thermophilic phase was less than 45 h, so the substrate was less degraded and thermophilic microorganisms had shorter time to colonize the raw substrate. The raw material was pasteurized scarcely in two days, a short time compared with the phase II composting method that requires 12–20 days (Zied et al 2010 ).…”

Selection and Characterization of a Bacillus Strain for Potential Application in Industrial Production of White Button Mushroom (Agaricus bisporus)

“…The compost added at casing (CAC-ing) technique was applied to promote colonization. The importance of this step is that properly mixing a small portion of phase III compost with the casing material provides notable benefits, and most importantly, it reduces the growing cycle and increases mushroom yield [46]. Mushroom crops were picked and weighed throughout the cultivation period.…”