Shiitake mushroom production A Presentation By Mr Allah Dad Khan Former Director General Agriculture Extension KPK Province and Visiting Professor the University of Agriculture Peshawar Pakistan

2. Shiitake Mushroom Production
A Lecture
By
Mr.Allah Dad Khan

3. Shiitake Mushroom Production;
• It is also called black forest mushroom or log
mushroom (Lentinula edodes).
• Traditional method of growing shiitake in
Japan is growing it on wood logs but in USA
and China they found it easy to grow it on
synthetic logs due to environmental
conservation.

4. Synthetic Log Method:
• Synthetic bag can be made using substrate
placed into plastic bags. Substrate +
supplements + buffers

5. a) Substrate formulations
• i) Substrates-Sawdust (cured if not from broad
leafed tree varieties), cottonseed hulls, coffee
hulls, corn cobs, sunflower seed hulls
• ii) PH buffer use calcium carbonate or calcium
hydroxide.
• iii) Supplement with brown sugar
• N.B. Keep bags on cemented floor for better
results
• Substrate preparation is done same way as oyster

6. Incubation stages
• 1. Spawn run or mycelia growth stage- stage during which digestion of
food takes place
• 2. Mycelial coat formation - mycelia will thicken and become dense
forming a coat on the outer side of the sawdust or substrate
• Environmental factors triggering coat formation are:
• Carbon dioxide: - the higher the CO2, the more the coating and the better
the crop.
• 3. Bump formation on the substrate coat: This stage can be called the
blister stage, popcorn stage. Too many bumps will increase chances of
contamination so reduce the number of bumps by lowering CO2 levels on
bags by cutting slits on the polythene bags.
• 4. Browningpigmentationcoat hardening
• Oxygen stage and Diffused light-. In the presence of oxygen and light,
oxidation occurs and the white Mycelia turn reddish brown on the surface
of the mycelia while middle of the bag remains white. When one third of
bag turns brown, they are ready for fruiting.

7. Fruiting
• Is triggered by changing the environment:
• Light
• Humidity
• Temperature
• Aeration

8. Ways of triggering fruiting
• Spraying cold water
• Physical shaking
• Soaking in cold water
• Electrical stimulation
• Harvesting
• Shiitake mushroom will be ready for picking after 8
days. After 14 days you can get another flush. First
flush of shiitake mushroom comes 3-4 months of
incubation. There can be a total of 4 flushes.
• After harvesting separate harvested bags from the rest
to reverse the environment as it was in beginning

9. GANODERMA SPP
• Most common species;
• Ganoderma luciderm.
• Other species are
• Ganoderma applanatum
• Ganoderma oregonense
• It is not an edible mushroom but most important medicinal
mushroom. It has been documented in material medical and
classified as a superior herb 2000 years ago.
• As a medicinal mushroom, it is used in smalllow doses and costs
US$500/kg
• Has similar production process as oyster mushroom but incubation
takes place at 85% RH. It forms a wide primordial (pin heading)
margin which disappears when the mushroom is ready for picking.
• Primordial formation to picking takes 3- 4 weeks.

10. Utilization of Ganoderma:
• Dry the ganoderma mushroom (this will keep
for long), grind. Boil powder in water. Let it
simmer for 30-60 minutes. It is used in
manufacturing of mushroom tea/ coffee