Effect of Spawn Run Time and Substrate Nutrition on Yield and Size of the Shiitake Mushroom

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Abstract
Sawdust substrate supplemented with millet or wheat bran or both, were inoculated with spawn made from an isolate (PSU 305) of Lentinus edodes. Biological efficiency (%) and size data, on mushrooms harvested from sawdust substrate with spawn run (vegetative growth) periods of 58 and 116 days, were analyzed. Biological efficiencies were two to three times greater for the longer incubation period. Production rate (r), defined as the daily average biological efficiency, was highest (r = 0.79%/da) for a 116 day spawn run with both millet and bran as nutritional supplements. Larger mushrooms generally were produced with longer spawn runs. Practical application of these methods should increase the efficiency of shiitake cultivation on supplemented sawdust.