Mushroom Research 26 (2) : 175-179, 2017 BK PANI et al.

Effect of substrate moisture on the production of straw mushroom,

Volvariella volvacea
BK Pani*, N Chinara and KB Mohapatra

Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar- 751 003, India

*Corresponding author, E-mail: dr.bkpani1965@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) is extensively cultivated in Odisha as a profitable

business enterprise. It is cultivated outdoors under the shade of trees in cuboidal beds with
layer spawning. Keeping in view the absence of any systematic research on the optimum
moisture requirement of substrate, an experiment was conducted to determine the effect of
substrate moisture on the production of straw mushroom, Volvariella volvacea. Varied
moisture content viz. 0 (dry straw without soaking), 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100
% were maintained in the substrate prior to spawning. It was revealed that soaked paddy
straw with 60 % moisture sustained the highest yield of mushroom (1214.7 g, 12.1 % BE)
compared to other treatments. Dry straw (without any soaking) failed to produce any fruiting
body. The increase in moisture content from 10 to 60 % is directly proportional to the increase
in yield. There was a gradual decline in yield as the moisture content was increased from 60
to 90 %. There was no fruiting in saturated moisture (100 %) condition. It has commonly
been observed that the top layer of a straw bed, having the same moisture status as other
layers, produces very sparse or no fruiting. This adversely affects the overall productivity of
the bed. Therefore, another study was conducted, wherein, the moisture content of the top/
covering layer was allowed to have different moisture levels such as 0 (dry straw, without
soaking), 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 % whereas the remaining three layers contained 60 %
moisture. It was revealed that, 30 % moisture in the top layer was optimum to support
maximum fruiting (463.7 g) on top leading to highest total production in the bed (1416.4g,
14.1 % BE). This was significantly higher than that of the normal practice (1140.7 g, 11.4 %
BE) of having 60 % moisture in the top as well as other layers. The beds covered with dry
straw produced only 10.4 g of fresh mushrooms leading to significantly lower overall
productivity ( 938.4 g, 9.3 % BE).

Key words: substrate moisture, straw mushroom, yield

Straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) is growers. It is cultivated in cuboidal beds of 1.5

cultivated as a successful business enterprise in
Odisha with an estimated annual production
of 9550 MT (Anonymous, 2016). Conducive
climate, simple cultivation technology, easy
availability of production inputs, short
cropping cycle and higher market demand have
contributed to its popularity among the
Received on 25 May 2017; Accepted on 04 December 2017
http://epubs.icar.org.in/ejournal/index.php/MR/issue/view
ft X 1.5 ft X 1.5 ft with layer spawning. During
cultivation, general practice is to maintain 5"
thickness in the three layers while the covering
layer is of 3" thickness. One-fourth each of
spawn bits and gram powder are applied
towards the margin in the first two layers while
the third layer consumes double dose of the

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 EFFECT OF SUBSTRATE MOISTURE ON THE PRODUCTION OF STRAW MUSHROOM
inputs. However, mushroom production from
the third layer through the top of the bed is not
at all satisfactory many a times. The
evaporation of moisture from the bed, their
condensation underneath the polythene cover
and ultimate accumulation over the top surface
appear to increase the moisture beyond the
required level. This may have been the cause
of lower fruiting from the affected layer,
decreasing the overall productivity of the bed.
The growers don’t give much importance to
this phenomenon, as the yields from such beds
are still very much remunerative. This indicates
that the moisture level particularly of the third
layer is of significant importance to obtain
higher harvest. Though the optimum soaking
period of substrate has been reported by many
workers (Purkayastha et al., 1981; Bhavani
Devi, 1982; Patra, 1997; Mohapatra et al., 2010;
Belewu and Belewu, 2005; Ahlawt and Tewari,
2007; Pani and Das, 1998), the literature is
almost wanting on the ideal moisture content
of individual layers. Therefore, the present
study was carried out to determine the effect
of substrate moisture of different layers in the
straw bed on the yield of V. volvacea.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Well dried paddy straw was soaked in
water for 6 hours (Sahoo, 2014) and excess
water was drained off. Then it was subjected
to steam sterilization for 30 minutes. First
experiment was conducted to study the effect
of varied substrate moisture on straw
mushroom production. Different moisture
content of the substrate such as 0 (dry straw,
without soaking), 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80,
90 and 100 % were maintained in the substrate
prior to spawning. In another experiment, the
moisture content of the top/covering layer was
maintained at 10, 20 and 30 % while the
remaining layers were allowed to retain normal
60 % moisture. Mushroom cultivation was
176
followed as per standard procedure
(Purkayastha et al., 1981). The spawned straw
beds were loosely covered by transparent
polythene sheets till initiation of fruiting.
Required temperature, humidity, light and
ventilation were maintained throughout the
cropping period. Mushrooms were harvested at
button/egg stage from a total of two flushes
and their fresh weights were immediately
recorded. Biological efficiency (BE) was
calculated as a ratio of fresh weight of
mushrooms to the dry weight of straw per bed
and was expressed as percentage. Data were
analysed statistically.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The data on the effect of substrate moisture
on straw mushroom production were presented
in Table 1. It was revealed that a moisture
content of 60 % in the substrate was the
optimum to sustain highest yield of mushrooms
(1214.7 g, 12.1 % BE) compared to other
treatments. There was no significant difference
between 50 and 60 % substrate moisture in
supporting the mushroom productivity. Dry
straw (without any soaking) failed to produce
any fruiting body. There was excellent mycelial
growth in 50-60 % moisture levels and it took
the minimum period (9 days) for initiation of
pinheads. The increase in moisture content
from 10 to 60 % was directly proportional to
the increase in yield. However, there was a
gradual reduction in yield as the moisture content
was increased from 60 to 90 %. There was no
fruiting in saturated moisture (100 %) condition.
Mushrooms possess an absorptive type of
nutrition. Therefore, the substrate has to be
soaked in water for softening and to make the
nutrients, mainly cellulose and hemicellulose, to
be hydrolysed easily so that they are easily
available to the mushroom mycelia. Substrate
with 50-60 % moisture was found to be ideal
 BK PANI et al.

Table 1. Effect of moisture content of straw on the production of straw mushroom

Moisture content Intensity of Days for Yield BE(%)

of straw (%) spawn run pinning
Sporophore Weight Avg. weight of
No. (g) sporophore(g)

0 - - - - - -
10 Poor 11 20.0 300.5 15.2 3.0
20 Poor 11 51.0 644.1 12.62 6.4
30 Poor 10 52.5 725.1 13.8 7.2
40 Good 10 60.7 987.6 16.27 9.8
50 Excellent 9 76.5 1201.4 15.72 12.0
60 Excellent 9 79.3 1214.7 15.31 12.1
70 Good 11 59.9 812.4 13.5 8.1
80 Poor 11 24.5 289.2 11.8 2.8
90 Very poor 12 10.1 98.7 9.7 0.9
100 - - - - - -
CD (0.05) - - - 121.7 - -

for higher yield. However, anaerobic condition fruiting or complete failure of the crop
due to high substrate moisture might have (Ahlawat, 2011). Substrate devoid of any
suffocated the mushroom mycelia and the soaking (0% moisture) did not yield any
developing pinheads resulting in very limited fruiting, ostensibly due to stiffness of the straw

Table 2. Effect of moisture content of top layer of beds on the production of straw mushroom.

Moisture Moisture Days for Yield (g) BE (%)

content of content of pinning
top/ covering remaining
layer (%) layers (%)
1st layer 2nd layer 3rd Layer Total Per cent
(I) (II) ( III) (I+II+III) increase /
decrease
over control

0 (Dry straw) 60 9 496.8 (52.9)* 431.2 (45.9)* 10.4 (1.1)* 938.4 -17.7 9.3
10 60 10 432.0 (42.2) 389.0 (38.0) 200.1 (19.5) 1021.5 -10.4 10.2
20 60 10 567.0 (43.6) 425.1 (32.6) 331.5 (25.4) 1300.2 +13.9 13.0
30 60 10 500.1 (35.3) 452.6 (31.9) 463.7 (32.7) 1416.4 +24.1 14.1
40 60 9 489.5 (38.2) 489.4 (38.2) 300.2 (23.4) 1279.1 +12.1 12.7
50 60 10 499.8 (41.5) 514.3 (42.7) 189.4 (15.7) 1203.5 +5.5 12.0.
60 (Control) 60 9 450.1 (39.4) 560.4 (49.1) 96.2 (8.4) 1140.7 - 11.4
CD (0.05) - - - - - 108.1 - -
*
Data in parentheses indicate percentage of total yield

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 EFFECT OF SUBSTRATE MOISTURE ON THE PRODUCTION OF STRAW MUSHROOM
and unavailability of nutrients for the
mushroom mycelia.
The moisture content of top/covering layer
induced varied productivity of individual beds
(Table 2). A moisture content of 30 % in the
covering layer + 60 % in remaining three layers
was found to be ideal in sustaining maximum
fruiting at the top (463.7 g, 32.7 % of total yield)
leading to significantly higher overall
productivity of the bed (1416.6 g, 14.1 % BE).
There was 24.1 % increase in yield compared
to the normal practice of having 60 % moisture
in all the layers in a bed. It was observed that
the top layer of a straw bed, having the same
moisture status as other layers, produced very
sparse or no fruiting. This adversely affected
the overall productivity of the bed.
After preparation of beds, they were
covered with transparent polythene sheets for
8-10 days or till initiation of pinheads. The
purpose was to retain the bed temperature,
conserve substrate moisture, act as a barrier for
the outside contaminants and provide a higher
concentration of carbon dioxide ideal for the
vegetative growth of the edible fungus. After
about 2-3 days, the moisture started
evaporating, slowly accumulated underneath
the polythene cover and eventually falling
down on to the top layer. The higher/
saturated moisture status of top layer might
have caused an anaerobic condition
detrimental to both mycelial growth as well as
the emerging pinheads. Rotting of the top layer
was also observed. More surface moisture on
the pinheads also resulted in physiological
rotting as well as bacterial spoilage (Sharma
and Kumar, 2011). All these factors might have
contributed towards reduced fruiting on the
top layer leading to decline in overall
productivity of the bed.
178
CONCLUSION
Based on the findings of the present
investigation, it is recommended that instead of
having uniform moisture (60 %) in all the
layers, 30 % moisture in the top layer and 60
% in the remaining layers of the cuboidal straw
beds should be maintained for achieving
higher production of straw mushroom.
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