Search

• Recycling of agricultural residues into economically and nutritionally viable mushrooms stands enormous opportunity. • The wild mushroom Schizophyllum commune can be easily cultivated on large scale upon optimization of agro-based substrates. • A wild germplasm of S. commune was collected, isolated and identified through morphological, anatomical, cultural and molecular characterization. • The nutritional content of S. commune collected in wild as well grown on substrate was analysed. • The collected isolate cultivation was also standardized on different agricultural residues where the mushroom was able to decompose cellulose, lignin and other components from the substrates. • This is the first report of the cultivation of this species on lignocellulosic waste from India which turns it into a promising species for commercial production. The common split-gilled mushroom, Schizophyllum commune Fr., is an edible medicinal mushroom found growing on wood under natural conditions across the globe. The present study was carried out to investigate the morphological and anatomical features of the basidiocarp and the cultural characteristics of S. commune along with identification of locally available agricultural residues as a potential substrate for large scale production of the mushroom. The morphology of S. commune revealed it as a split-gilled white fungus with flabelliform basidiocarp. The polypore was identified as trimitic in nature with thin walled generative, skeletal and binding hyphae bearing septa and clamp connections. A potato dextrose agar (PDA) culture from the fruiting body yielded a rapidly growing white woolly mould. S. commune was confirmed by sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region. The mushroom seed or spawns were produced by growing the mycelium on paddy grains with complete white cotton mycelial growth and a characteristic tart and disagreeable smell. The commercial cultivation technology of S. commune was standardized on paddy, wheat straw and saw dust bag logs at 28 ± 2°C and 80–90% relative humidity. The cultivation trial recorded paddy straw supplemented with wheat bran as the best substrate for growing of S. commune with highest fresh weight yield of 91.9 gm/bag, and biological efficiency of 18.33%, reduced spawn run days and days to harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]