Production guide for Schizophyllum commune

Schizophyllum commune is still considered a wild mushroom in the Philippines even though its economic importance as dietary supplement has already been recognized in the nutriceutical industry. Production technology for its artificial cultivation is not yet available. Abella et al. (CLSU) developed a production technology for S. commune. Their study determined the 1) type of substrate that would produce the best yield of mycelia and fruiting bodies; 2) appropriate substrate for the artificial log production; 3) appropriate broth medium that could support luxuriant mycelial growth; and 4) appropriate log and its preparation that would produce best yield of fruiting bodies. Wild S. commune from Mt. Nagpale, Abucay, Bataan was evaluated on four broth media from natural sources - coconut water, potato broth, corn bran broth, and rice bran broth. Four materials were evaluated for mother spawn production - unmilled rice seeds, feed concentrate, feed pellets for chickens, and milled rice. Six sawdust-based substrates enriched with varying concentrations of rice bran as artificial logs, and three logs from non-edible fruit bearing trees such as rain tree (Samanea saman), pukinggan (Clitoria racemosa) and ipil-ipil (Leucaena leucocephala) were also evaluated for the fruiting body formation of S. commune. Findings of the study revealed the following: Coconut water gave the heaviest mycelial growth of S. commune having 236.67 mg dry weight of mycelia. The lowest on the other hand, was observed in potato broth with 53.33 mg dry weight of mycelia. S. commune had the shortest incubation period of 5 days when sown coconut water and rice bran broth. Mother spawn is the starting material for the mass production of mushroom. At 90 mm mycelial growth unmilled and milled rice as well as feed concentrate supported the efficient and luxuriant mycelial growth of S. commune. Unmilled rice (6 days), feed concentrate and milled rice (both at 5.33 days) effected the the shortest incubation period for S. commune. They can be used as starting material for the production of S. commune. Feed pillet was not an appropriate mother spawn material due to the very long incubation period of 30 days exhibited by the mushroom. Sawdust with 5% rice bran yielded the heaviest weight fruiting bodies of 5.40 g/bag and the most number of harvested fruiting bodies at 87.33/ bag. S. commune grown in unpasteurized ipil-ipil log produced the most number of fruiting bodies at 428.67/ bag followed by unpasteurized rain tree at 321.00 fruiting bodies per bag. S. commune grown on unpasteurized rain tree log had the shortest average incubation period of 5 days. The short incubation period in rain tree might be attributed to the tree's chemical property and water absorption capacity. This tree species had the highest amount of water-soluble extractives compared with other tree species evaluated. Fruiting bodies and mycelia of S. commune were analyzed and compared for their nutritional content. Its fruiting body contains more crude protein but lesser amount of crude fat, carbohydrate, crude fiber and ash than its mycelia. The mycelium was a better source of carbohydrates and its fruiting body as source of protein. The carbohydrates content of S. commune was greater than that of fresh straw mushrooms(Volvariella volvacea)(3-21%) and its crude fiber was within the normal limit(3-35%). According to the researchers, interested growers can produce S. commune all year round using the developed technology. Depending on the abundance in the area, growers may also try other potential substrates aside from rice straw that can be used as spawning material for the fruiting body production of S. commune. In sugarcane producing areas, bagasse can be used, while coir dust can be tried in coconut producing areas.