Morchella sclerotia production through grain supplementation
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Publisher
Asociación Interciencia
Abstract
Description
Edible fungi from the Morchella genus are important at national and international level because of their high commercial value. Nevertheless, their artificial production still represents a challenge, even though patents for their cultivation do exist. A number of studies point out that obtaining sclerotia is a necessary part of the process for domestication of the genus and commercial production. This study consists of two experiments. In the first one, mycelial growth was assessed for five strains of Morchella using four different grains (maize, oats, wheat and rye), assuming that greater mycelial growth implies a more abundant production of sclerotia. For all the strains tested the highest response was obtained with rye and the most extensive growth was observed in CP508 (17.90cm2). In the second experiment, the effect of rye supplementation on sclerotia production was evaluated using modifications to the jar method of Ower et al. (USPat. 4,594,809; June 1986). The treatment with rye supplemented with compost and gypsum (RCG) led to the best result, and the most productive strain in this experiment was CP506 (8.47g). Sclerotia were obtained between the third and fourth week following inoculation, in all treatments. Under the experimental conditions of this study, no barrier effect became evident and no effect of the nutrient-poor medium in sclerotia production was found. Therefore, it may be that the differentiation in the formation of sclerotia is due to factors such as the presence of nutritious elements and growth promoters contained in the compost.
Keywords
Multidisciplinarias (Ciencias Sociales), Barrier Effect / Compost / Jar Method of Ower / Morchella / Nutrient-poor Medium /