Reishi mushroom
Reishi mushroom [Ganoderma lucidum (Leyss. ex Fr.) Karst.], also known as red reishi, wood reishi, mushroom reishi, red ganoderma, ten-thousand-year fungus, etc. In ancient times it was called the auspicious herb. It belongs to the subdivision Basidiomycotina, class Hymenomycetes, order Aphyllophorales, family Ganodermataceae, genus Ganoderma. Reishi is distributed in most areas of China, such as Jilin, Shandong, Anhui, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Yunnan, Fujian and other places. Reishi is used medicinally as fruiting bodies, spores and mycelium. Reishi contains polysaccharides, polypeptides and various amino acids, as well as steroids, triterpenes, adenosine, alkaloids, glycosides, ascorbic acid and other components. In addition, it contains various trace elements, especially a relatively high content of germanium. Reishi tastes bitter, is neutral in nature and non-toxic. It has the effects of protecting the liver, tonifying the middle, benefiting heart qi and detoxifying. It is mainly used to treat neurasthenia, dizziness and insomnia, chronic hepatitis, pyelonephritis, hypertension, coronary heart disease, rhinitis, chronic tracheitis, bronchial asthma, stomach disease, duodenal ulcer, diabetes and other conditions. Modern medical research shows that reishi and its spore powder have a therapeutic effect on cancer and can enhance immunity.
(1) Morphological characteristics Reishi is composed of two main parts: the mycelium and the fruiting body. The mycelium is colorless and transparent, septate, branched, white or brown, 1-3 micrometers in diameter. The mycelium is white and downy. The fruiting body consists of the cap, the stipe and the hymenium. The cap is semicircular or kidney-shaped, 4-12 cm x 3-20 cm, 0.5-2 cm thick, corky, yellow, gradually turning reddish-brown, with a glossy crust, concentric ridges and radiating wrinkles. The stipe is lateral, rarely eccentric, dark reddish-brown or purplish-brown. The context is nearly white to light brown, the tubes up to 0.2-1 cm long, nearly white, later becoming light brown. The pore mouths are white at first, later brown. The spores are reddish-brown, oval, with one end truncate, the outer spore wall smooth, the inner spore wall rough, containing 1 large oil drop in the center.
(2) Biological characteristics
1. Life history The entire growth and development process of reishi is: basidiospore
The entire growth and development process of reishi is:
Basidiospore > suitable conditions > monokaryotic mycelium clamp connection dikaryotic mycelium specialization aggregation dense knotting fruiting body maturation, ejection of basidiospores.
The development process from basidiospore to basidiospore, that is, the life history of reishi.
2. Conditions required for the growth and development of reishi
(1) Nutrition Reishi is both a saprophytic fungus and a facultative parasitic fungus. Reishi has a strong ability to decompose and absorb substances such as lignin and cellulose, and has wide adaptability. Most broadleaf trees as well as sawdust, leaves, crop straw, cottonseed hulls, corn cobs, etc., with an appropriate amount of wheat bran or chaff added, can all be used as raw materials for the culture medium.
(2) Temperature Reishi is a high-temperature fungus and can grow between 15-35°C, with an optimum temperature of 25-30°C. The fruiting body can grow within the range of 10-32°C, but the optimum temperature for primordium differentiation and fruiting body development is 25-28°C. Below 25°C, the fruiting body grows slowly and the crust color is also poor; above 35°C, the fruiting body will die. (3) Humidity Reishi requires relatively high humidity for growth. During the mycelial growth stage, the water content of the culture medium is required to be 55%-60%, and the relative air humidity is 70%-80%. During the fruiting body development stage, the relative air humidity is required to be 90%-95%. If it is below 80%, the fruiting body will grow poorly, and the young growing points at the edge of the cap will turn dark gray or dark brown.
(4) Air Reishi is an aerobic fungus, and it needs fresh air throughout its entire growth and development process. Especially during the fruiting body growth and development stage, it is more sensitive to carbon dioxide. When the carbon dioxide content in the air increases to 0.1%, the fruiting body cannot open its cap and grows into antler-like branches; when the content reaches 1%, the fruiting body develops extremely abnormally, with no tissue differentiation at all, forming deformities.
(5) Light Reishi is very sensitive to light during its growth and development process. Light has a pronounced inhibitory effect on mycelial growth. The growth rate is fastest under dark conditions with no light. When the illuminance increases to 3000 lux, the growth rate is only half of that under complete darkness. Light is indispensable for the growth and development of the fruiting body. At 1500-5000 lux, the stipe and cap grow rapidly, becoming thick and sturdy, with a thick cap.
(6) pH Reishi likes to live in a slightly acidic environment, requiring a pH range of 3-7.5, with the most suitable pH being 5-6.
(3) Cultivation techniques The main cultivation methods of reishi are bottle cultivation, bag cultivation and log cultivation.
1. Spawn production The mother culture of reishi is usually prepared by tissue isolation to obtain pure mother culture. Select young, tender tissue that has not yet become corky. Under sterile conditions, place a piece of reishi tissue in a 0.1% mercuric chloride solution for surface sterilization, treat for 2 minutes, then rinse with sterile water and dry with sterile gauze. Use a scalpel to cut off the outer crust of the fruiting body, cut the context into small pieces, inoculate them onto slant culture medium, and place them under dark conditions. After 10 days the mycelium can cover the test tube, which is the pure mother culture. It can be used to expand the culture and transfer to the stock culture. For spring cultivation, inoculate in mid-to-late May, and prepare the stock culture in mid-to-late April; for autumn cultivation, inoculate in August, and prepare the stock culture in July. Log inoculation is generally carried out in April in spring.
2. Culture medium There are many types of culture media suitable for reishi cultivation. Only the most commonly used ones are introduced here.
(1) Mixed sawdust 77%, bran 18%, corn flour 3%, sucrose 1%, gypsum powder 1%.
(2) Sugarcane bagasse 50%, mixed sawdust 48%, soybean flour 1%, gypsum powder 1%.
(3) Cottonseed hulls 44%, mixed sawdust 44%, bran 5%, corn flour 5%, sucrose 1%, gypsum powder 1%.
(4) Corn cobs 45%, mixed sawdust 45%, bran 8%, soybean flour 1%, gypsum powder 1%.
3. Cultivation methods
(1) Bottle cultivation Use 750-gram bottles with a 4 cm mouth, or wide-mouth bottles or canning jars.
① Mixing materials and filling bottles First mix the main ingredients and auxiliary ingredients evenly, dissolve the sugar in water and then gradually add it to the material and mix thoroughly. For every 100 kg of dry material, add 140-160 kg of water, so that when the material is squeezed tightly in the hand, a small amount of water drips from between the fingers. Use manual filling or a bottle-filling machine, requiring moderate tightness, until 1 cm from the bottle mouth, then press flat, and use a tamping stick to make a hole in the center down to the bottom of the bottle. Wash off dirt on the bottle mouth and wall, and wrap the bottle mouth with kraft paper.
② Sterilization and inoculation Sterilize at 100°C under normal pressure for 8-12 hours, or sterilize at 121°C under high pressure for 1.5 hours. After cooling, inoculate the spawn under sterile conditions. Then place in the culture room, control the temperature at 25°C, and control the indoor relative humidity below 70%. Keep the culture room in a dark state to facilitate mycelial growth. Generally after 20 days of mycelial culture, when the mycelium has grown to 1/2 of the bottle, the sealing paper can be removed and the bottles moved to the fruiting body production room. At this time, control the temperature at 25-28°C, increase the relative humidity to 90%-95%, keep the air fresh, and enhance diffused light. The cap continues to grow until the white growth ring around it disappears, that is, it stops growing and expanding, but it can still continue to thicken. The fruiting body forms tubes and ejects reddish-brown spores.
(2) Bag cultivation The process is similar to bottle cultivation, except that polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride plastic bags are used, filled to about 10 cm from the bag mouth, then the bag mouth is gathered, a plastic collar is put on, and a cotton plug is added. Sterilize, and inoculate and culture under sterile conditions. When the mycelium has grown to about 1/2 of the bag, remove the cotton plug and collar, expose the material surface, and let it produce mushrooms. Be careful not to open the bag mouth too early, so as to avoid the mycelium drying out and affecting fruiting body formation.
(3) Log cultivation Select broadleaf tree species such as oak, elm and birch, 7-10 years old, with a trunk diameter of 6-15 cm.
(1) Felling and cutting into sections Felling is carried out after leaf fall and before sprouting the following year, and care should be taken not to damage the bark during felling. Before inoculation, saw into sections and soak in water for 12-15 hours to increase the water content and facilitate mycelial growth.
(2) Drilling holes and inoculation Use a belt punch installed on an inoculation hammer to drill holes, about 9.6-10 mm in diameter, then immediately use an inoculation gun to insert the spawn, and then seal the holes with bark. Inoculation should be carried out on sunny days, doing drilling, inoculation and sealing at the same time.
(3) Mycelial growth Stack in a "well" shape, about 1 m high, with the bottom supported by stones or waste wood to leave it empty. The temperature inside the stack should be controlled above 20°C and below 28°C. On sunny days at noon when the temperature is high, the film should be propped up for ventilation and cooling. Turn the logs up and down, inside and out once a week to promote uniform mycelial growth. After about 30 days, the inoculation holes and under the bark are covered with mycelium, and the mycelial growth stage is finished.
(4) Burying in soil to cultivate mycelium and fruiting body formation Select a place with good drainage, a water source or under tree shade as the mushroom bed. The bed is 1.2 m wide and 20 cm deep. Place the logs horizontally in the mushroom bed, with a spacing of 5 cm between logs, fill the gaps between logs with clean fine loam, and then cover with a 2 cm layer of soil. Build a shade shed 60 cm above the mushroom bed, cover the shed with a sparse straw curtain, and cover the outside with plastic film to prevent direct light and heavy rain erosion. During this period, reduce water supply and cultivate the mycelium for about 30 days. When yellow-white mycelium appears on the cross-sections at both ends of the logs, it enters the fruiting body formation stage. Increase the humidity of the space, spray water 1-2 times on sunny days, and keep the soil moist. Fruiting bodies begin to appear in early July. There is a peak production from May to July of the second year, and fruiting bodies are still produced in the third year.
(4) Harvesting and processing When the white growth ring around the cap disappears, the entire cap is reddish-brown, and coffee-colored powdery spores appear, the fruiting body can be picked. Generally it takes about 50-60 days from inoculation to harvest. After harvesting, place on bamboo curtains to sun-dry, or dry at low temperature. If spore powder is to be collected, the bagging method or the rack sealing method can be used for collection, and then the fruiting body is picked.