The effect of vegetable materials on the yield and productivity of agaricus bisporus

Ersin Polat, Fedai Erler, Halil Demir, Huseyin Cetin and Tugba Erdemir

Ersin Polat. Agricultural Engineer. M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Horticulture, Akdeniz University, Turkey. Assistant Professor, Akdeniz University, Turkey. e-mail: polat@akdeniz.edu.tr

Fedai Erler. Agricultural Engineer, M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Entomology, Akdeniz University, Turkey. Associate Professor, Akdeniz University, Turkey. Address: Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Akdeniz University, 07070 Antalya, Turkey. e-mail: erler@akdeniz.edu.tr

Halil Demir. Agricultural Engineer, Cukurova University, Turkey. M.Sc. in Horticulture, Akdeniz University, Turkey. Researcher, Akdeniz University, Turkey. e-mail: hdemir@akdeniz.edu.tr

Huseyin Cetin. Biologist and M.Sc. in Biology, Akdeniz University, Turkey. Researcher, Akdeniz University, Turkey. e-mail: hcetin@akdeniz.edu.tr

Tugba Erdemir. Agricultural Engineer and M.Sc. in Entomology, Akdeniz University, Turkey. Researcher, Akdeniz University, Turkey. e-mail: tugbaerdemir@akdeniz.edu.tr

SUMMARY

To produce high yield, quality crops of mushrooms is an important component of the mushroom industry. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of seven vegetable materials (two commercial neem-based products, Neemazal-T/S^® and Greeneem oil^®, containing azadirachtin-A, and five hot water extracts from plants: Inula viscosa L., Ononis natrix L., Origanum onites L., Pimpinella anisum L. and Teucrium divericatum Sieber) on the yield and productivity of white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Imbach. The concentration used was 5ml·l^-1 water for the neem products, and 50g·l^-1 dried material in water for the plant extracts tested. Dilute sprays of all the materials tested (150ml per bag, corresponding to 1200ml·m^-2) were applied by soil drench to the casing layer using handgun sprayers. The effect of the test materials was evaluated by yield (kg per bag) and productivity (relation between fresh mushroom weight and fresh compost weight, as %). The applications of vegetable materials by soil drench to the casing layer had a stimulatory effect on mushroom yields. Yield increased with all vegetable treatments over the water-treated control. With the exception of O. natrix and O. onites extracts, significant productivity increases (7.7 to 21.9%) compared to the control were observed as a result of plant extract applications. The results suggest that plant materials may play an important role on the yield and productivity of A. bisporus, and may also be used in organic mushroom cultivation.

El efecto de materiales vegetales en el rendimiento y la productividad de agaricus bisporus

RESUMEN

La producción de cosechas de frutos de calidad y alto rendimiento es un componente importante de la industria de champiñones. El presente estudio se llevó a cabo para evaluar el efecto de siete materiales vegetales (dos productos comerciales: Neemazal-T/S^® y aceite Greeneem^®, conteniendo azadirachtin-A, y cinco extractos en agua caliente de plantas: Inula viscosa L., Ononis natrix L., Origanum onites L., Pimpinella anisum L. y Teucrium divericatum Sieber) sobre el rendimento y productividad del champiñón Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Imbach. La concentración empleada fue de 5ml·l^-1 en agua para los productos comerciales y de 50g·l^-1 de material seco en agua para los extractos. Se aplicaron aspersiones diluidas empapando la superficie (150ml por bolsa, equivalente a 1200ml·m^-2) por medio de aspersores manuales. El efecto de los materiales se evaluó en cuanto a rendimiento (kg por bolsa) y productividad (relación entre pesos frescos de hongos y compost, en porcentaje). La aplicación de los materiales vegetales estimuló el rendimiento, que fue mayor en todos los casos que en el control con agua. Con excepción de los extractos de O. natrix y O. onites, hubo aumentos significativos en productividad (7,7-21,9%) como resultado de las aplicaciones al comparar con el control. Los resultados sugieren que los materiales vegetales podrían tener un papel importante en el rendimiento y productividad de A. bisporus, y también pueden ser usados en cultivos orgánicos de champiñones.

O efeito de materiais vegetais no rendimento e a produtividad de agaricus bisporus

RESUMO

A produção de colheitas de frutos de qualidade e alto rendimento é um componente importante da indústria de champinhons. O presente estudo foi realizado para avaliar o efeito de sete materiais vegetais (dois produtos comerciais: Neemazal-T/S^® e óleo de Greeneem^®, contendo azadirachtin-A, e cinco extratos em água quente de plantas: Inula viscosa L., Ononis natrix L., Origanum onites L., Pimpinella anisum L. e Teucrium divericatum Sieber) sobre o rendimento e produtividade do champinhon Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Imbach. A concentração empregada foi de 5 ml·l^-1 em água para os produtos comerciais e de 50g·l^-1 de material seco em água para o extrato. Aplicaram-se aspersões diluídas empapando a superfície (150 ml por saco, equivalente a 1.200 ml·m^-2) por meio de aspersores manuais. O efeito dos materiais foi avaliado quanto ao rendimento (kg por saco) e produtividade (relação entre pesos frescos de cogumelos e compost, em porcentagem). A aplicação dos materiais vegetais estimulou o rendimento, o qual foi maior em todos os casos comparados ao controle com água. Com exceção dos extratos de O. natrix y O. onites, houve aumentos significativos em produtividade (7,7-21,9%) como resultado das aplicações ao comparar com o controle. Os resultados sugerem que os materiais vegetais poderiam ter um papel importante no rendimento e produtividade de A. bisporus, e também podem ser usados em cultivos orgânicos de champinhons.

KEYWORDS / Agaricus bisporus / Mushroom / Productivity / Vegetable Material / Yield /

Received: 04/30/2008. Modified: 09/03/2008. Accepted: 09/04/2008.

Introduction

Over the last two decades, mushroom growing has become one of the most dynamically developing fields of agriculture in Turkey. Total fresh mushroom production of Turkey has increased more than 28-fold in the last 22 years, from about 1400ton in 1983 to about 40000ton in 2005 (Anonymous, 2008). The white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Imbach, is the most commonly grown mushroom in the country, accounting for up to 94.8% of the total mushroom production, and productivity of this species is ~20-22% of compost fresh weight (Erkal and Aksu, 2000; Erkel, 2004; Anonymous, 2008). It is produced on a composted mixture of various cereal straws (wheat, rye, corn) hay, corncobs, distillers’ grain, cottonseed meal, poultry manure and other raw materials (Van Griensven, 1988). Although it has been assumed that current composting formulations used for mushroom growing provide sufficient levels of nutrients to obtain optimum yield potentials, studies have demonstrated that the supply of micronutrients provided by current composting formulations may sometimes be inadequate to support optimum yields (Desrumaux et al., 2000; Weil, 2003). These experiments demonstrated that yields increased following additions of varying levels of Micromax, a commercially available micronutrient product, to the compost at casing, but they did not indicate which micronutrient(s) were responsible for yield increases. Previously, Racz and Tasnadi (1998) reported statistically significant yield increases when Mn was added to compost at spawning used for A. bisporus production. Studies performed on other individual micronutrients added to the substrate at spawning, such as Cu, B and Fe, resulted in no significant effect on cumulative yields (Hayes, 1972; Cresswell et al., 1990). Regardless, micronutrient supplementation appears to be a potential opportunity for mushroom growers to improve efficiency and quality of freshly harvested mushrooms.

Some previous studies showed that addition of various materials to compost strongly enhanced yields of cultivated mushrooms. For example; Schisler and Sinden (1966) and Schisler (1967) reported that the supplementation of mushroom compost at spawning and at casing with small amounts of vegetable oils and nutrients resulted in increased yield. Schisler and Patton (1970) noted that lipid, specifically linoleic acid, is stimulatory to mushroom production. Furthermore, Royse and Sánchez (2008) indicate that mushroom yields may also be stimulated by supplementation of first break mushroom compost with hydrolyzed protein, commercial supplements and crystalline amino acids. In previous studies (Polat et al., 2008; Erler et al., 2008) for evaluating new materials to control mushroom flies (sciarids, cecids and phorids), some vegetable materials (Neemazal-T/S^® and hot water plant extracts of Inula viscosa L. and Origanum onites L.) were found to produce a significant increase in cumulative yields of A. bisporus compared to the control. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of some vegetable materials, including those mentioned above, on the yield and productivity of A. bisporus.

Materials and Methods

Test materials

Seven vegetable materials (two commercial neem-based products, Neemazal-T/S^® and Greeneem oil^®, and five hot water plant extracts, namely, Inula viscosa L., Ononis natrix L., Origanum onites L., Pimpinella anisum L. and Teucrium divericatum Sieber, were tested for their effects on A. bisporus yield and productivity.

The neem-based products Neemazal (an emulsifiable concentrate containing 10000ppm azadirachtin-A) and Greeneem oil (100% pure natural cold-pressed neem oil with an azadirachtin value of 3000ppm) were supplied by Verim Ins. Tur. Ltd. Sti. (Antalya, Turkey).

With the exception of anise (P. anisum), the plant materials used in the preparation of watery extracts were collected by the authors from their natural habitats in Antalya at their full flowering stages. Seeds of anise, which were used for extraction, were purchased from a local market. Taxonomic identification was performed by botanists from the Biology Department, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey, where voucher specimens were deposited.

The commercial strain A-15 smooth white of A. bisporus, a variety commonly grown by commercial growers in the Antalya-Korkuteli district, was used in the experiments.

A. bisporus compost used in the study was produced by a commercial company (Ersanlar Ltd. Sti.) in the Antalya-Korkuteli district. The compost was prepared by mixing wheat straw, chicken manure, gypsum and water and had 70-72% moisture content. A. bisporus grain spawn was mixed with compost at a rate of 2% (w/w). Polyethylene bags 40cm in size were filled with 10kg of the spawned compost.

Preparation of hot water plant extracts

Except for anise, the aerial parts of plants tested were shade-dried, chopped into small pieces using a mill with rotary knives, and 50g of each plant was soaked in 1 liter of distilled hot water (60^oC) and incubated at room temperature for 24h. Dried anise seeds were used for extraction. Each plant extract was sieved into a clean container and kept in the refrigerator until used.

Experimental design

The experiments were conducted in a mushroom growing room under controlled conditions at Akdeniz University, Turkey, in two successive growing periods in 2007. The growing room had the same design as those used commercially, but smaller (4.5´3.0´3.0m). In each growing period, a total of 48 polyethylene bags, each including 10kg of standard pasteurised and spawned (at a rate of 2%, w/w) compost, were used. The bags were placed onto the shelves in the growing room, and after 14 days of incubation at 25ºC and relative humidity of 85-90%, a 4cm thick casing layer containing black peat was added on the surface of the colonized substrate. The bags were kept at 24-26ºC for 6-7 days and then fresh air was introduced until a temperature of 17oC and a CO₂ concentration of 0.08–0.11% (v/v) were reached. A temperature of 17.5 ±0.5ºC and a relative humidity of 80-85% were maintained throughout cropping. Irrigation of the cultures started after just casing and continued when sporophores had reached the ‘‘pea’’ size stage (12-13 l·m^-2). The cultures were additionally watered between subsequent flushes (4-5 l·m^-2). Treatments were applied in a completely randomized block design in three replications, with a water-treated control plot in each replicate, each plot consisted of two polyethylene bags.

Biological assays

After a 4cm thick casing layer containing black peat, originated from the Antalya-Korkuteli district, was added on the surface of colonized substrate, each plot was treated with a selected material. Only one application was made in each growing period, one day after casing. Treatments were applied by soil drench onto the casing layer. The concentration used was 5ml·l^-1 water for the neem products, Neemazal and Greeneem oil. Dilute sprays of both neem-based products and watery extracts of the plants tested (150ml per bag, corresponding to 1200ml·m^-2) were applied using a handgun sprayer with a tank capacity of 5 liters. Separate sprayers were used for each treatment to prevent cross contamination. Tap water was applied to the control bags. During the experiments, all growing practices were applied like those followed in a commercial mushroom growing cellar in the Antalya-Korkuteli district.

The mushrooms were hand-picked daily in three successive production flushes over a 24 day harvesting period. Since a fungal disease outbreak began in the control and some of the treatments by the time of the third flush, the third flush values were not taken into account in this paper. The effects of the vegetable materials tested were evaluated with regard to yield and productivity.

Yields for each flush and total yield (two flushes) for each treatment, were expressed as kg per bag. Productivity (P, %) was determined from the relation between mushroom fresh weight (FWM) and compost fresh weight (FWC) at the end of phase II (after pasteurization until cropping is completed), according to the equation described by Andrade et al. (2007):

P= FWM / FWC × 100

Additionally, the harvested mushrooms were examined for abnormalities in size and weight. Mushrooms were harvested, counted and weighed daily. At the end of each flush in the growing period, average weight (g) of mushrooms with diameter of 3-5cm diameter, total fruit number per bag, percentage and average weight (g) of fruits >5cm in diameter were determined.

Statistical analysis

Variance analysis was performed using the least significant difference (LSD) test at 5% level of probability to compare mean values of yields rates from two flushes and cumulative yields.

Results

Yield response

There were three flushes of mushrooms over a 24-day harvesting period, but the third flush values were not taken into account due to the disease outbreaks in some treatments. The yield for individual and cumulative flushes for each individual treatment is shown in Table I.

In the first flush, the highest mushroom yield was produced on plots treated with Greeneem oil (1.40kg/bag), followed by the extract of P. anisum and Neemazal. There were no significant differences between the yields obtained from the treatments of I. viscosa, O. onites and T. divericatum extracts and that from the control (P= 0.05).

In the second flush, the highest yield was obtained from the treatment with T. divericatum extract (0.74kg/bag), followed by the treatment with I. viscosa extract (0.56kg/bag). O. natrix and O. onites extract treatments resulted in significantly higher yields (0.52 and 0.49kg/bag, respectively) compared to the control (0.41kg/bag). The neem-based products, Neemazal and Greeneem oil, had also significantly higher yields with 0.46 and 0.43kg/bag, respectively, than the control (P= 0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the yield values obtained from P. anisum extract treatment and the control in the second flush.

When taking into consideration the yield for cumulative flushes (total yield), T. divericatum extract and Greeneem oil treatments resulted in statistically higher yields than the control (P= 0.05).

The highest total fruit number of mushrooms per bag was obtained with Neemazal (103.4), I. viscosa extract (97.4) and Greeneem oil (97.2). No significant difference was observed in total fruit number per bag among the treatments with O. natrix extract, T. divericatum extract and the control (P= 0.05). O. onites extract treatment had the least total fruit number of mushrooms per bag (75.2).

Although no significant differences were observed among the treatments, Greeneem oil, P. anisum extract, O. natrix extract and water-treated control, average fruit weights in the treatments, T. divericatum extract, O. onites extract, I. viscosa extract and Neemazal significantly differed from each other (P= 0.05).

In terms of percentage and average weight (g) of fruits >5cm in diameter, the highest percentage (31.3%) was observed in the T. divericatum extract treatment whereas the highest weight of large fruits (60.0g) was found in the O. onites extract treatment.

Productivity

All treatments resulted in higher productivity of mushrooms compared to water-treated control (Figure 1). When the control productivity is considered as ‘zero’, all vegetable treatment had positive differences over it. The highest difference in productivity was obtained with the T. divericatum extract treatment (21.9%), followed by Greeneem oil (18.1%). Neemazal, and P. anisum and I. viscosa extract treatments showed intermediate differences, while O. onites and O. natrix extract treatments resulted in the smallest differences in productivity over the control.

Discussion

The results indicate that some plant materials had a significant effect on A. bisporus yield and productivity, and can be used in mushroom cultivation as nutrients.

It has been assumed that current mushroom composting formulations provided sufficient levels of nutrients to obtain optimum yield potentials. However, studies have demonstrated that the supplementation of mushroom compost at spawning and at casing with various nutrients including plant materials resulted in increased yield (Schisler and Sinden, 1962, 1966; Schisler, 1967; Racz and Tasnadi, 1998; Weil, 2003). More recently, Mamiro and Royse (2008) reported that significant increases in yield of A. bisporus were achieved by adding to the compost Micromax^®, a commercially available micronutrient that is composed of nine minerals (Ca, S, Mg, B, Cu, Fe, Mo, Mn, Zn). On the other hand, several studies performed on other individual micronutrients added to the substrate at spawning, such as Cu, B, and Fe, resulted in no significant effect on cumulative yields (Hayes, 1972; Wood and Fermor, 1985; Cresswell et al., 1990). They reported that the role of micronutrients occurs primarily in the compost, on enzymatic reactions or on the micro-flora, thus not directly affecting quality. Regardless, micronutrient supplementation appears to be a potential opportunity for mushroom growers to improve efficiency and quality of freshly harvested mushrooms.

There are also various organic supplements to compost that are known to stimulate mushroom production. They include rice bran, cassava peels, carbohydrates (such as glycogen), natural extracts like yeast and malt extract, as well as cell-free extracts (Brunt and Moore, 1989; Fasidi and Kadiri, 1993). Schisler and Sinden (1962) and Schisler (1967) reported that lipids such as vegetable oils may also be used to stimulate fruiting. Several previous works have shown that various oil types and rates have a highly significant effect on the dimensions and weights of cultivated mushrooms (Nwanze et al., 2005a; b). Haskins et al. (1964), Schisler (1967) and Nwanze et al. (2005a) indicate that sterol from the various oils is responsible for the stimulated fruiting response. Schisler and Sinden (1962) found that rice protein, which is rich in phenylalanine, leucine, isoleucine and valine, is important in increasing mushroom yield. This finding supports the results obtained in different studies where it was found that phospholipids, proteins and vitamins, all induce carpophore production (Barber and Barber, 1980; Fasidi and Kadiri, 1993; Shin and Godber, 1996). The present work focused on the effect of the botanical extracts on the yield and productivity of A. bisporus rather than their mode of action. However, considering the mentioned findings, the stimulatory effect of vegetable extracts tested in this study can be attributed to the oils, proteins and vitamins in their chemical composition.

No information is available on the effect of plant extracts as nutrients in mushroom cultivation. The results obtained from this study demonstrate that significant increases in yield and productivity of A. bisporus are achieved by applying vegetable materials to the casing layer. The findings suggest that plant materials can be alternatives to commercially available some chemical micronutrients and may also be used in organic mushroom cultivation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the Scientific Projects Administration Unit of Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey, for financial support, and the commercial companies for their help in providing some test materials.

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