Mushrooms are the exposed fleshly fruiting body of some natural fungi which are widely distributed with a wide range of shape, color, and sizes. The plants are very rich in protein, vitamins, essential amino-acids, and carbohydrates. Mushrooms are low in fat and the fiber is starch-free.
Mushroom production is quite different from growing the other existing green plants; this is because it does not contain any chlorophyll and therefore depend on other plants material, the substrate for food.
Growing mushrooms requires a good knowledge and some skill but the benefits far overshadow the efforts involved.
Steps in mushroom production
1. Choosing a growing medium 2.Pasteurizing or sterilizing the medium 3.Seeding the beds with spawn (material from mature mushrooms grown on sterile media 4.Maintaining optimal temperature, moisture, and other conditions for mycelium growth and the conditions that favors fruiting 5.Harvesting, packaging, and selling the mushrooms 6.Clearing the facility and beginning again.
The best mushrooms to be produced
White mushrooms: - like all mushrooms, grow from microscopic spores, not seeds. Spores to be used must be collected in the nearly sterile environment and then used to inoculate grains or seeds to produce “SPAWN”, (the spawn is like seed that produce mushroom),because mushrooms have no chlorophyll, they must get all their nutrients from organic matter in their growing medium called “SUBSTRATE”, usually formulated of various materials such as straws, cotton seed, gypsum, corn cobs, cocoa seed hulls, etc. the substrate is where the mushrooms will fruit and must be sterilized or pasteurized in order to destroy any fungal or bacterial competitors.
Friday, October 1, 2010
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