White King Oyster Mushroom is a rare edible mushroom with broad development prospects
White King Oyster Mushroom is a white variety of Pleurotus eryngii, also known as Bailing mushroom or Bailinggu, and is a rare edible mushroom with very promising development prospects.
The fruiting bodies of White King Oyster Mushroom are not only pure white and bright, with thick flesh, a fine, crisp and tender texture and good taste, but are also rich in nutrients and have medicinal and health-care effects. According to analysis by the National Food Quality Supervision and Inspection Center, the protein content of White King Oyster Mushroom is as high as 14.7%, and among the 18 amino acids it contains, all 8 essential amino acids for the human body are present.
Because wild White King Oyster Mushroom grows on the medicinal plant Ferula, it has medicinal effects similar to those of the traditional Chinese medicine Ferula, including relieving food stagnation and dissipating blood stasis, clearing heat and detoxifying, and treating stomach diseases and typhoid, among other effects; the fungal polysaccharides it contains can enhance human immune function. Its unsaturated fatty acids combine with cholesterol in human blood to form cholesterol esters, which help lower blood pressure and prevent arteriosclerosis; vitamin D is the first-choice medicine for preventing and treating rickets and osteomalacia in children and osteoporosis in middle-aged and elderly people.
Artificial domestication and cultivation of White King Oyster Mushroom began in 1958. In China, cultivation and domestication began in 1983. Because White King Oyster Mushroom grows on plants such as eryngo, Ferula and broadleaf Laserwort, it is both parasitic and saprophytic, so cultivation is somewhat difficult. However, through the efforts of large numbers of scientific and technical personnel and mushroom growers, large-scale cultivation is now possible, with a biological conversion rate of 30%-60%.
The cultivation substrate sources for White King Oyster Mushroom are very broad, mainly agricultural and forestry by-product residues. Most of them are rich in lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose, providing the substances needed for the growth of White King Oyster Mushroom. At the same time, adding other auxiliary materials to the substrate can better meet the needs of its growth and development. Commonly used main materials include broadleaf tree sawdust, cottonseed hulls, sugarcane bagasse, corn (2351,-4.00,-0.17%) cobs and other agricultural and forestry by-product residues. The auxiliary materials used mainly include wheat bran, cornmeal, gypsum, superphosphate, calcium carbonate, yeast powder, sucrose and so on. Henan has abundant raw materials for cultivating White King Oyster Mushroom.
White King Oyster Mushroom is a medium-to-low temperature type edible mushroom. The optimum temperature for mycelial growth is 25°C-28°C, and mycelial growth stops at 35°C-36°C. The fruiting body differentiation temperature of White King Oyster Mushroom is 0°C-15°C, and the fruiting bodies can grow at 5°C-18°C, growing faster and with better mushroom quality at 13°C-15°C. Our province is in the suitable growing area for White King Oyster Mushroom, and both the climatic conditions and resource conditions are suitable for cultivating it. The White King Oyster Mushroom produced in our province has the characteristics of thick mushroom quality and white mushroom color, and is deeply welcomed by traders and consumers.
Cultivating White King Oyster Mushroom has very high economic benefits. There are many raw materials that can be used to cultivate White King Oyster Mushroom, and costs also vary. When cultivating White King Oyster Mushroom with cottonseed hulls as the main material, for every 1000 kg of material input, the cost input required is 2017.6 yuan. Calculated at an average biological efficiency of 50%, 500 kg of fresh White King Oyster Mushroom can be produced. The market price of White King Oyster Mushroom is relatively high, reaching 20-60 yuan per kg. Calculated at 20 yuan per kg, the income can be 500 kg × 20 yuan/kg = 10,000 yuan. After deducting the cost of 2017.6 yuan, the net income can be 7982.4 yuan. If each household inputs 2000 kg of material, the net income can be 15964.8 yuan. It can be seen that cultivating White King Oyster Mushroom has obvious economic benefits and is a good project for adjusting the rural industrial structure and helping farmers escape poverty, become prosperous and reach a moderately prosperous level.
With the rapid development of our country's economy and the increase in foreign trade after joining the WTO, the demand for White King Oyster Mushroom will expand year by year. In addition, given its rich nutritional and health-care effects and the high benefits of cultivation, cultivating White King Oyster Mushroom will have broad development prospects.