http://www.erepo.iihr.ernet.in/handle/123456789/45 Wed, 15 May 2013 15:51:40 GMT 2013-05-15T15:51:40Z http://www.erepo.iihr.ernet.in/handle/123456789/212 Title: Development of sporeless and low-spored mutants of edible mushroom for alleviating respiratory allergies Authors: Meera, Pandey; Sandhya, Ravishankar Abstract: Oyster mushrooms, Pleurotus species, are the second largest cultivated mushrooms, accounting for 30% of the global mushroom production. The fruiting bodies of Pleurotus are gymnocarpous, i.e. spore discharge begins early and continues until the sporophores are harvested. Estimates have established that a good sized mushroom can release 100 million spores per hour. The inhalation of these spores induces allergic responses like farmer’s lung disease and hay fever. Research was undertaken to solve this problem through the development of sporeless or low-spored strains which would be suitable for commercial production. The UV mutation of the spores of two commercial Pleurotus species, P. florida (white oyster mushroom) and P. sajor-caju (grey oyster mushroom) led to the production of two mutants. The mutant of P. florida was totally sporeless with light grey mushrooms, having a white, soft, long central stipe and yielded 40% higher than the parental P. florida. The mutant produced from P. sajor-caju was low-spored (spore content decreased by 99%) with grey mushrooms having highly wavy margins and a short central stipe. Both these mutants are stable since the last 9 years and more than 40 sub-culture generations. The cultivation technology is similar to the commercial species and the taste and aroma too are similar. These mutants will shortly be released as sporeless and low-spored mutants for commercial cultivation in the country. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.erepo.iihr.ernet.in/handle/123456789/212 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.erepo.iihr.ernet.in/handle/123456789/211 Title: Evaluation of Alternate Substrate Pasteurization Techniques for Culinary-Medicinal White Oyster Mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus var. florida (Agaricomycetideae) Cultivation. Authors: B, Saritha; Meera, Pandey Abstract: Three traditional substrate pasteurization methods (chemical, steam, and hot water) and seven alternate methods (solarization, botanicals, and sanitizers) were evaluated for the cultivation of culinary-medicinal white oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus var. florida. The investigation was undertaken to scientifically evaluate current methods and to educate farmers to adopt appropriate methods that will not only prevent contamination and give optimal yields, but that will also be eco-friendly and pose no health hazards to the workers. Steam pasteurization (80°C, 2 h) was found to be the most efficient method and showed the highest biological efficiency (BE) at 82.8%, followed by the hot water method (80°C, 60 min) with BE at 77.6%. The chemical sterilization technique (500 ppm formaldehyde +75 ppm carbendazim-Bavistin) showed 49.6% BE and solarization 34.7% BE. All other treatments showed low BE. The hot-water, chemical sterilization, and solarization techniques were the most effective in preventing competitor molds. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.erepo.iihr.ernet.in/handle/123456789/211 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z