Detailed Explanation of Mechanized Technology for Edible Mushroom Production

Mechanized technology for edible mushroom production is the technology of completing edible mushroom cultivation by mechanical means. It integrates excellent mushroom strains, cultivation processes and mechanized technology into one, and is an edible mushroom production technology that changes manual operation into mechanical operation and changes decentralized management into intensive management.

1 Advantages of mechanized production technology

1.1 Production advantages

The use of mechanization for edible mushroom production greatly improves labor productivity, increases work efficiency by 3 to 25 times, and raises the level of specialized production. It can produce more products in a relatively short time, and is not affected by the seasons.

1.2 Quality advantages

Because mechanized production has a high degree of specialization, stable production, superior purification conditions, and strict management systems, compared with manual production it has obvious quality advantages: 1) The particle size of crushed sawdust meets requirements, the mixing uniformity is good, and the tightness of bottle filling and bag filling is better than that of manual production; 2) It can avoid strain backlog and aging, and the product contamination rate is low; 3) Mechanical baking improves product quality and can reach the quality standards required for export.

1.3 Economic advantages

Through mechanical means, a large amount of manpower, material resources and various expenses can be saved. Through processes such as mechanical slicing and crushing, agricultural and forestry by-products that could originally only be used as fuel are turned into the main materials for edible mushroom production, realizing substantial value-added products and turning resource advantages into commodity economy advantages.

1.4 Practical advantages

The scale of production can be determined according to comprehensive factors such as funds, @#@136@#@ amount, management mode, technical strength, and resource conditions. A single machine can be used, or a semi-mechanized production line can be designed in combination. The investment ranges from tens of thousands of yuan to hundreds of thousands of yuan, suitable for production by individuals and units, and has obvious practical value for promotion.

2 Production process and technical key points

The main content of mechanized technology for edible mushroom production is to use branches, pruned twigs, sawdust and wood shavings, corn cobs, corn stalks, wheat straw, rice straw, peanut shells, cottonseed hulls, etc. as the main raw materials, process them into fragments by machinery, add certain auxiliary materials such as wheat bran, rice bran, soybean cake, peanut cake, sucrose, gypsum, calcium carbonate, magnesium sulfate, etc., and through mechanical spawn making, bag making, sterilization, inoculation, cultivation, harvesting, and processing, form a complete set of technical specifications for mechanized production and cultivation.

2.1 Slicing process

The selected wood material is preferably less than 120mm in diameter and no more than 2500mm in length. In order to facilitate the invasion of fungal microorganisms and the formation of organic acids for fermentation and mycelial germination and growth, the mushroom wood needs to be naturally dried for a certain period after being cut into sections before slicing and processing. The maximum cross-sectional size of wood chips (length x width) is 60mm x 20mm, thickness 4mm +/- 2mm, and a moisture content above 20% is preferable. The slicing site is best chosen on a drying yard so that the cut wood chips can be spread out to dry nearby in time and the amount of handling can be reduced.

2.2 Crushing process

After the cut wood chips are spread out and air-dried to a moisture content of about 15%, they can be crushed. Edible mushrooms have certain requirements for the coarseness and fineness of the culture material. If crushed too finely, not only is the crushing productivity low, but when used as culture material the air permeability is poor, affecting mycelial reproduction; if the culture material is too coarse, it easily punctures the plastic bags, causing invasion and infection by contaminating bacteria, and at the same time the culture material is not easy to compact, and water is easily lost during cultivation. Tests have shown that for shiitake culture material, when the crusher crushes wood chips, the screen hole diameter is preferably 2.5mm to 2.8mm; when crushing stalk and hull type culture materials, the screen hole diameter is preferably 5mm to 7mm.

2.3 Mixing process

The uniformity of mixing directly affects the growth of edible mushrooms. The specific method is to weigh the materials according to the prescribed formula ratio. When mixing, first put the main material into the mixing chamber, add the solid materials with small amounts uniformly along the axial direction, and dissolve water-soluble materials in water first before adding. A certain amount of water also needs to be added and mixed evenly in the mixer.

2.4 Bag-making process

Bag filling is generally suitable for the cultivation of oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, black wood ear mushrooms, etc. The specifications of plastic bags (length x width) generally use low-density polyethylene plastic bags of 17cm x 35cm and 0.04mm to 0.05mm thick that can be sterilized at normal pressure, or polypropylene plastic bags that can be sterilized under high pressure. Stick making is suitable for the cultivation of shiitake mushrooms and white wood ear mushrooms.

2.5 Sterilization process

The sterilization process is generally divided into high-pressure sterilization and normal-pressure sterilization. High-pressure sterilization is mainly used for making mother spawn, stock spawn, cultivation spawn, and sterilization of polypropylene plastic bags with cotton plugs.

Normal-pressure sterilization is also called earth steaming stove or disinfection stove sterilization, and is used for sterilizing polyethylene bags. The mushroom bags should be arranged reasonably in the stove, with a certain gap left between bags so that steam flows smoothly and each bag is heated evenly. The sterilization temperature must be maintained at 100 degrees C for 10h to 20h to achieve the sterilization effect.

2.6 Drying process

The drying process is also called the dehydration process. Edible mushrooms can be sold fresh directly or stored in cold storage, and can also be preserved by dehydration. When using a dryer for dehydration, parameters such as temperature, time, air supply volume, and moisture exhaust must be properly controlled to prevent scorching, overcooking, or rotting.

3 Configuration of processing machinery and tools

The processing equipment used by ordinary farmers or small edible mushroom factories includes branch slicers, crushers, mixers, bottle (bag) filling machines, disinfection and sterilization equipment, drying equipment, etc.

3.1 Branch slicer

There are mainly 2 types, ZQ-600 and MG-700. Its working principle is: when working, power drives the belt pulley, and through the main shaft the cutterhead rotates. Flying knives are installed on the cutterhead, and a bed knife is installed at the feed inlet. Wood is fed in from the feed inlet and cut into wood chips by the flying knives. Due to inertial force, the suction and throwing action of the fan blades on the cutterhead, and the cutting action of the bed knife, the wood chips are quickly thrown out from the discharge outlet below the machine body. Before use, the flying knives should be adjusted to the same plane. The distances between the flying knives and the cutterhead plane are 4mm to 5mm (ZQ-600) and 6mm to 10mm (MC-700), respectively, and the clearance between the flying knives and the bed knife is 0.3mm to 0.8mm.

3.2 Crusher

The crushers are mainly 9FT-40 and 9FQS-40. In addition to crushing wood chips, they can also crush crop stalks and feed. Its working principle is: power drives the main shaft through the belt pulley to rotate at a speed of 3500r/min to 3600r/min. Wood chips enter the crushing chamber from the feed inlet, are broken after being struck by the high-speed rotating hammer blades, are thrown toward the toothed plate around the circumference and broken again, then collide with the discharge plate and are bounced back, and are struck again by the hammer blades. After repeated striking and collision many times, the wood chips or materials are crushed into small particles. Under the action of the high-speed rotating exhaust fan, the crushed sawdust is sucked through the screen and sent out of the machine from the discharge outlet, while the coarse sawdust that fails to pass remains in the crushing chamber for continued crushing.

3.3 Mixer

The WJ-70 raw material mixer is mostly used. This machine can mix 100kg of moist culture material each time, mixing for 3min each time, operating 8 to 10 times per 1h, and can mix 800kg/h to 1000kg/h of culture material. When working, the raw materials to be mixed and water need to be put into the drum, the drum cover closed, and the clutch engaged, then the mixing shaft begins to rotate. The 8 mixing boards installed on the shaft in left and right spiral arrangement drive the material to turn up and down and move back and forth axially in the drum, so as to achieve the purpose of uniformly mixing the material.

3.4 Bag (bottle) filling machine

The bag (bottle) filling machine is currently the most widely used edible mushroom machine and tool. It has a simple structure, is convenient to use, has high productivity, and is low in price. When using it, pay attention to the diameter and length of the auger sleeve to meet the needs of different plastic bag specifications. Its working principle is: after the culture material enters the hopper, due to the self-weight of the culture material and the action of the stirrer, it is sent into the auger sleeve, and the spiral auger sleeve pushes the culture material out of the auger sleeve opening and into the plastic bag.

3.5 Disinfection and sterilization equipment

In the production process of edible mushrooms, the equipment used for disinfection and sterilization includes high-pressure cookers, direct-heating sterilization stoves, and input-type steam sterilization rooms.

3.5.1 High-pressure cookers can be divided into 3 types: portable, vertical, and horizontal. They are composed of the cooker body, safety valve, exhaust valve, pressure gauge, thermometer, cooker cover, and fastening bolts, etc. Its working principle is: the pressure cooker is heated directly from the outside. When water boils in the sealed cooker, steam cannot escape. As the steam pressure inside the cooker continuously increases, the temperature also continuously rises, thereby achieving the purpose of high-temperature sterilization.

3.5.2 The direct-heating sterilization stove is also called an earth steaming stove or normal-pressure stove. This kind of stove is easy to make, low in cost, and convenient to promote and use. This stove has low requirements; it only needs to save fuel.

3.5.3 Input-type steam sterilization room This facility is used in larger-scale edible mushroom production plants. Bottled spawn or cultivation bags are placed on carts and pushed into the sterilization room, and steam is introduced for sterilization and disinfection.

3.6 Drying and dehydration equipment

There are many types and models of drying equipment. Commonly used ones include dryers, placement-type hot-air drying ovens, dehydrators, as well as drying and dehydration rooms or simple drying warehouses, etc.