Chemistry: fertilizers – Processes and products – For mushrooms
Patent
1981-08-09
1983-12-13
Lander, Ferris H.
Chemistry: fertilizers
Processes and products
For mushrooms
71 6411, 71 6413, 71 6406, 47 11, C05G 300, A01G 104
Patent
active
044203195
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates generally to methods for producing nutritional additives for biological systems and more particularly to processes for preparing growth inducing materials and food stuffs for use in growing mushrooms and to the products resulting from the processes.
BACKGROUND ART
"Mushroom" is a generic term which refers to a number of species of fungus, in particular those species which are edible. Mushroom growing has become a multi-billion dollar international industry in recent years. The industry has pushed hard and long to attempt to discover methods of growing bigger, more esthetically pleasing, and tastier mushrooms. It has also been a prime object of the industry to discover methods of growing these mushrooms in the shortest possible period of time and with the least incidence of diseases and failures.
A typical mushroom crop consists of a number of distinct stages. The mushroom must go through the stages of compost preparation, compost pasteurization, spawn preparation, planting, vegetative development, after which time the environment is "cased" to induce the production of fruit, and finally, fruition. The length of time required for each of these stages is dependent both upon the type of mushroom to be grown and upon the precise environmental conditions to which the mushroom spores and mycelia are exposed.
The production of the mushroom spawn for innoculation is one of the initial stages. Typically, this consists of the preparation of a large number of kernals of some member of the wheat family, preferably rye, although millet is also used. The rye kernals are sterilized and prepared and then innoculated with the mycelia of the particular species of mushroom desired, typically, in the United States, Agaricus bisporus. The mushroom mycelia are then allowed to proliferate upon the kernels of grain until the individual kernels are completely covered by the living mushroom tissue. The mushroom mycelia-covered kernels which result are known in the industry as "spawn".
The production of spawn is typically carried out in a commercial laboratory environment. The sources for mushroom spawn, particularly those of a specific species, are quite limited. Ordinarily, the spawn available for a particular type of mushroom will have less than fifty original sources throughout the world. Sterility and quality control in the early stages of spawn production are extremely important. Consequently, the spawn is typically produced in a laboratory then stored and shipped to the end users, the growers.
Once the grower has received the spawn he is ready to undertake the second stage of mushroom growing, the planting of the spawn. The grower has prepared, and aged to the proper stage, under proper temperature and environmental conditions, a bed of compost in which the spawn is to be planted. This compost has traditionally been the cleanings from horse stables or other similar composts, although modern composts come from a variety of sources. It is necessary to select and treat the compost carefully so that it has good nutrient content and does not contain undue amounts of acid or various chemical and biological inhibitors such as high ammonia content. High concentrations of chemicals such as acids or ammonia will hinder the growth of the mushrooms and reduce the efficiency of the operation.
The actual planting consists of distributing the spawn throughout the compost bed in such a manner that the food contained in the bed is reasonably accessible to each spawn. To achieve this, the spawn grains are typically evenly distributed over the compost surface and then mechanically mixed into the compost.
Once the spawn has been planted, it is allowed to vegetate and grow under controlled environmental conditions until it is "cased" and then continues to vegetate until the mycelia are ready for fruition. The amount of time necessary for such vegetative growth is dependent on the precise environmental conditions, the particular type of mushroom and the nutrative content of the compost bed. A typical vege
REFERENCES:
patent: 3942969 (1976-03-01), Carroll, Jr. et al.
Lander Ferris H.
Schatzel Thomas E.
Spawn Mate, Inc.
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