Agro-residues Disinfection Methods for Mushroom Cultivation

Agro-residues have effectively been utilized as a substrate in mushroom cultivation. The substrates used in cultivating edible mushroom requires varying degree of pre-treatment to promote the growth of mushroom mycelium by excluding other competitor microorganisms. Sterilization using hot water, steam, or chemical methods is done to disinfect the substrate. However, sterilization is not an ideal disinfection method as it kills both beneficial and harmful organisms in the substrate. Pasteurization of the substrate seems to be the better alternative which permits re-growth of beneficial organisms during the cooling period. This paper presents an outline on the utilization of agro-residues as a substrate in mushroom cultivation. Various methods of chemical, non-chemical sterilization, and pasteurization of substrate have been discussed. It also highlights that more focus is needed to promote mushroom growers to adopt the pasteurization technique than sterilization by developing simple and low-cost pasteurization equipments for rural and small scale mushrooms growers.