CONTENTS

Acknowledgement
General introduction and Objectives
Chapter One: Overview of the Company/site
1.1. Location
1.2. Description of company/site goals and objectives
1.3. Organogram

Chapter Two: Activities and Observations

a. General Overview
2.1
2.2. Species of mushroom
2.3. Conditions for proper growth of mushroom
b. MUSHROOM SPAWN PRODUCTION
2.4 Pure culture, Mother Culture production and the 3
different bases of seeds.
2.5. Materials and measurements required for mushroom
spawn substrate preparation.
2.6. Spawn Substrate production
2.7. Bagging and Sterilization
 2.8. Inoculation
2.9. Colonization
2.10. Observations

c. PLANTING OF MUSHROOM SPAWN

2.11. Materials required for preparation of the substrate
for Planting the Mushroom spawn
2.12. Preparation of Planting Substrate bags
2.13. Sterilization
2.13. Planting
2.14. Fruiting
d. DRYING AND PACKAGING

e. Conclusion
Acknowledgement

I give Honor and Glory to God Almighty for grace

and wisdom.

I wish to extend special gratitude to the entire

staff of FOZKOM FARMING AND INVESTMENT for
their great commitment and willingness to train
me in their organization. Special thanks to the
Manager of the Mushrooms seed production
department Mr. Atanga Bless for all the efforts he
made to make sure we grasp the whole process.
General introduction and Objectives
INTRO: Mushrooms are a specie of Fungi (Basidiomycota,
Agaricomycetes); fleshy, spore bearing fruiting body of a
fungus. The fall under the kingdom fungi and members of the
order Agaricales. unlike higher plants, mushrooms do not
have chlorophyll which helps the plats to use water, carbon
dioxide and solar energy to produce their food; in the
absence of chlorophyll, mushrooms cannot synthesize their
own food, and depends on higher plants for food.
Mushrooms obtain nutrients from organic materials like
straw, dead wood, dung, etc. hence their nutrition is
saprophytic.
There are many different species of mushrooms, most of
which are not edible and some are even poisonous. The most
cultivated are the Button mushroom, Milky, Volvariella and
the Oyster mushroom (which we will be focusing on).
They can be edible, wild and some of them can be toxic too.
It contains more than 90% water and less than 1% fat, loaded
with Vitamin B, copper and selenium and low in sodium [1].
Usually vegetables, milk and other food products are fortified
with Vitamin D by irradiation or direct addition but
mushrooms are unique in this sense because they are
naturally a rich source of Vitamin D which otherwise is
procured from animals or poultry.
Definition of key words
1. Inoculation: it is the process of inserting the mushroom
spawn into a substrate that is suitable for growth
2. Mushroom Spawn: It is a substrate that has already has an
acting growing mushroom culture(mycelium)
3. Substrate: this is a material on which the mycelium grows
on and obtains energy, nutrition and structure
4. Mother culture: It is the seed of the mushroom which is
prepared directly from the pure culture
5. Pure culture: this is a culture containing the growth of a
single kind of organism (in this case the mushroom)
OBJECTIVES
 Differentiate the different bases of spawn
produced from the mother culture
 Analyze the different materials required to
produce the substrate for spawn and the
substrate for cultivation
 Understand the functions of the different
elements found in the substrate
 Obtain sterile substrate bags hence realizing
uncontaminated products
 Package and process mushroom to other
products.
 Chapter One: Overview of the Company/site
1.1 Location:

FOZKOM FARMING AND INVESTMENT GROUP is a Cameroon

based company with its head office in Bamenda. The seed
production unit is found in Ntarinkon, precisely in Pinyin
quarters.

1.2 Description of company/site goals and objectives;

Founded in 2013, FOZKOM FARMING AND INVESTMENT
GROUP is a Cameroon Base company, with its Head Office in
Bamenda. Registered in the TRADE AND PERSONAL
PROPERTY RIGHTS REGISTER. NO: RC. BDA2016B000037,
Taxpayer Card No.M011612480388Z.
FOZKOM is made up of classic and dynamic engineers in the
domain of Agricultural production and transformation,
livestock engineering and renewable energy experts with
enormous years of experience.
VISION
Our vision is to Invest in Organic Agriculture and clean Energy
in order to maintain an Eco-friendly environment.
Mission
To encourage organic farming and the use of Agri-waste for
alternative energy.
Objective
Develop an organic master plan for the Public and private
sector to realize a marketing platform for organic products.
They carry out the following activities;
BIOGAS
The organic waste gotten from the farms, animals and
sewage are being mixed with water in a proportion of 1:1 and
put into an anaerobic digester to produce methane gas
otherwise known as Biogas. The gas is used for heating and
lighting of the farms. At Fozkom, “waste is Wealth”. The
worldwide drive to find clean, renewable energy sources
remains a main priority of Fozkom.

ORGANIC VEGETABLES
In Cameroon, Fozkom is prides herself as the top-ranking
company in the production of Organic Foods of great quality.
MUSHROOMS
100% Organic Oyster Mushrooms by Fozkom. Mushroom is a
common edible Fungus. Oyster mushrooms may sound more
like something you’d find in the ocean than on land. Yet this
edible fungus can be beneficial to the body and breaks down
toxic chemicals.

1.3 Organogram

ggg
BOARD OF

DIRECTORS

MANAGING
DIRECTOR

OPERATIONS

MANAGER

MANAGER AT MANAGER AT MANAGER AT BIOGAS

VEGETABLES AND MUSHROOM SEED\ PRODUCTION UNIT
FARMING UNIT CULTIVSATION UNIT

EMPLOYEES
(Labourers, engineers
and marketers)
Chapter Two: Activities and Observations
a.

2.1 General Overview

In this chapter, we will be looking at the entire

production process of mushrooms, from the material
required to the preparation of the mother culture,
substrate preparation, inoculations of the different seed
bases, fruiting of the mushrooms and processing.
It is important to note that the mushroom fermentation
is a Solid-solid fermentation process hence very little
water is needed. The whole production process most be
carried out under aseptic conditions since it is
vulnerable to contamination from other
microorganisms.

2.2 Specie of mushroom

 They are different species of edible mushrooms
such as shiitake, button, paddy straw and oyster mushrooms.
During my internship, we focused on the oyster mushrooms
specifically the blue oyster mushroom. it belongs to the
specie Pleurotus. Its natural habitat is the forest and grows
on hard wood at a fruiting temperature of 10-25oc.

2.3 Conditions for proper growth

Blue oyster mushrooms require the following conditions
for proper growth;
1. Suitable temperature
2. Slightly basic medium
3. Non-smoky environment

b. MUSHROOM SPAWN PRODUCTION

Mushroom spawn(seeds) can be inoculated and
cultured to produce healthy seeds which can be
grown to mushrooms. The production goes through a
series of events i.e. from the culturing of the pure
culture in agar and then sub-culturing in a substrate
to produce the mother culture, and further step-
down processes to form the different bases.
 2.4 Pure culture, Mother culture production and the 3
different bases

i. Pure culture
A pure culture is a population of cells growing in
the absence of any other specie. For the oyster
mushroom, the pure culture is prepared by
aseptically transferring a small tissue where the gill
plate joins from well developed oyster mushroom
into a PDA slant (Potatoes dextrose agar). The test
tubes are incubated at 25+10c for 14-21days for full
white growth of fungal culture

ii. Mother culture production from pure culture

 The mother culture is produced by inoculating the
pure culture in a substrate. The substrate is made
 of the the following materials and their respective
measurements
2.5, Materials required and their measurements
- Sawdust; 100kg
- Rice brand; two buckets
- Calcium carbonate (locally called white-wash);
1kg
- Water
2.6. Spawn substate production
 The saw dust is the main carbon source, while the
rice brand acts as a source of nutrients required for
growth. Caco3 acts as a buffer, resisting slight
changes in the pH of the medium maintaining a
slightly alkaline medium suitable for fermentation of
the seeds.
 The ingredients are all mixed together thoroughly to
ensure equal distribution of all the components.
Water is then added bit by bit till a slightly moist
texture is obtained.
2.7 Bagging and Sterilization
 The substrate is the put into transparent polyethene
bags and then sterilized by boiling in a metal drum
for 3hrs at steady heat to autoclave to kill any
microorganism or contamination present and also to
cook the rice brand.
 It is the removed and placed on a cold floor to cool
to room temperature under aseptic conditions.

2.8. Inoculation and Colonization

 When it is has reached the desired temperature it is
transferred into the inoculation room and the pure
culture is inoculated into the substate bags with well
sterilized equipment.
 A rubber pipe is then placed on the mouth of the
paper and cotton wool is placed on top (as shown on
the picture below). The inoculated bags are then
placed on bamboo shelves in a dark room to ferment
for 2-3weeks.

2.9 Observation
After one week, white mycelium cells could be seen
through the plastic paper. Some substrate bags
where contamibated with green mould and hence
were removed.
 Spawn Bases
The mother culture after it has fully fermented
can be stepped down to base 1, 2 and 3 respectively
by subculturing the seeds in the same substrate
mixture. The seed bases sold to mushroom farmers
at FOZKOM are bases 3(i.e. the mother culture sub-
cultured three times) for maximum yield.

Precautions taken
- The metal drum used in sterilization is coated with bags
to prevent the polyethene papers from sticking to the
walls
- The substrate bags are stacked on each other and air
spaces left between then to ensure the hot steam
reaches all the bags
- During inoculation, the hands and equipment are well
sterilized to prevent contamination
 - Inspection is done everyday and Any contaminated bag
is removed to prevent it from contaminating the others
- Scented or contaminated sawdust e.g. from cypress
tree or wood contaminated with oil spillage should not
be used since it enhances the growth of the green
mould

II. PLANTING OF MUSHROOM SPAWN

After the production of the mushroom spawn, the seeds
are either sold to farmers or used to plant mushroom in a
planting substrate. the spawn and planting substrate have
very little difference in their composition and production
process
2.11. Materials required for preparation of the substrate
for Planting the Mushroom spawn and their measurements
 200kg of sawdust
 4 buckets of rice bran OR cornflour
 2kg CaCO3
  WATER

2.12. Preparation of Planting Substrate bags

The above ingredients are mixed together thoroughly to
ensure equal distribution. As in the spawn substrate
preparation, all the ingredients are the same and perform the
same function. The only difference is in the fact that more
water is added to the planting substrate as compared to the
spawn substrate.
2.13. Sterilization
The mixture is then put in larger planting bags and then
sterilized by boiling in a metal drum for 3hrs at steady heat to
autoclave to kill any microorganism or contamination present
and also to cook the rice brand or cornflour.
The bags are then removed and allowed to cool on a cold and
sterile floor.
2.13. Planting
The mushroom seeds (base 3 seeds) are then
planted/inoculated in the planting bags and the bags are tied.
Unlike in spawn production, rubber pipes and cotton wool
are not needed, rather small holes are created on the bags
for passage of air and easy movement as the fungi grows
2.14. Fruiting
The inoculated bags are then transferred to the fruiting
room. The fruiting is initiated by light; hence the fruiting
room requires a light source and temperature of 20-250c. the
mushroom grows and sticks out as shown on the image
below

DRYING AND PACKAGING

Drying or Dehydration is the oldest and the basic
processing method for various food products
Moisture is the most suitable medium for the
microbial growth and propagation, hence its removal
will cause the microbial activity to cease or become
gradual. The blue oyster mushroom is harvested and
dried using a mechanical dryer at temperatures of 65-
700C. They are then packaged and sold.
 Some of the fresh mushrooms are used in making
mushroom soya, mushroom tea.

e. CONCLUSION

Mushrooms have the following health benefits;

1. Prevent osteoporosis and arthritis
2. Boost vitamin D levels
3. Help maintain blood pressure
4. Lower bad cholesterol levels
5. May prevent anemia
6. Rich in antioxidants
7. Provide protection against cancer
8. Boost bone mineral density
9. Regulate insulin levels in the body
10. Low in calories and help lose weight
11. Boost the immune system by detoxifying the body