Performance Evaluation of Paddy Straw Pasteurizer for Mushroom Cultivation

摘要

Paddy straw found to be one of the most efficient substrate for mushroom cultivation. Since the straw is mainly composed of lignin and cellulose that are degraded enzymatically in the course of substrate utilization by the fungus. The edible mushrooms utilize lignocellulose as a source of carbon for their growth through enzymatic degradation. But very often a number of competitive fungi are found to grow in paddy straw during mushroom cultivation which affects the spawning rate, mycelium growth and mushroom yield. Hence pasteurization is an important process to prevent the growth of these competitor fungi and make the substrate more favourable for mushroom mycelia growth. For effective paddy straw pasteurization, a pasteurizer was developed and its performance was evaluated. Straw was pasteurized after soaking in normal water and without soaking. Different temperature-time combinations and compression levels was used. Substrate obtained was used to cultivate three commonly cultivated mushroom species in India. Hypsizygus ulmariusn, Pleurotus Sajor-caju and Calocybe Indica offered highest yields of 290.7 g/kg substrate with biological efficiency of 79.6 %, 254.1 g/kg substrate with biological efficiency of 69.6 % and 342.3 g/kg substrate with biological efficiency of 93.8 %, respectively. Contamination was absent when straw was pasteurized at 80 ℃ for 2 h under maximum compression.