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Lentinus tigrinus is a significant edible and medicinal mushroom. It was collected from University of the Punjab, Lahore under a Morus tree. For the domestication of this wild significant species, its three parameters i.e., culturability, spawn production and cultivation potential were assessed using different synthetic culture media and substrates. Completely randomized design was used to determine the parameters and all the effects were evaluated in triplicates. Among these different media used, maximum mycelial growth where observed on the potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 35°C, followed by the compost extract agar (CEA) medium, malt extract agar (MEA), glucose peptone agar (GPA), and Saboraud dextrose agar (SDA). Spawning material was prepared on rice, sorghum and barley grains by the cultured mycelium on PDA medium. Sorghum grains were found as the appropriate medium for spawn production of this fungus. Cultivation potential and biological efficiency was assessed on the different substrates i.e., pure rice straw, pure sawdust, pure tea-waste, mixture of sawdust and rice straw, mixture of tea waste and sawdust and mixture of tea waste and rice straw. Mixed substrate of sawdust and rice straw at 30oC showed the maximum yield. Tea-waste medium was used as the casing material and proved very effective. These results indicated that Lentinus tigrinus exhibit the growth potential and its domestication can compete with nutritional and medicinal peculiarities of one of the most cultivated species, L. edodes. RESUMO Lentinus tigrinus é um importante cogumelo comestível e medicinal. Foi coletado na Universidade de Punjab, Lahore, sob uma amoreira. Para a domesticação desta espécie silvestre, foram avaliados sua culturabilidade, capacidade de reprodução e potencial de cultivo, usando diferentes meios sintéticos de cultura e substratos. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado em triplicata. Entre os diferentes meios de cultura utilizados, o crescimento micelial máximo foi observado no agar batata dextrose (PDA) a 35°C, seguido pelo meio compost extract agar (CEA), malt extract agar (MEA), glucose peptone agar (GPA) e agar Saboraud dextrose (SDA). O material de reprodução foi preparado em grãos de arroz, sorgo e cevada usando micélio cultivado em meio BDA. Grãos de sorgo constituíram o meio adequado para a multiplicação desse fungo. O potencial de cultivo e a eficiência biológica foram avaliados nos diferentes substratos, ou seja, palha de arroz pura, serragem pura, resíduo de chá puro, mistura de serragem e palha de arroz, mistura de resíduo de chá e serragem e mistura de resíduo de chá e palha de arroz. O substrato misto de serragem e palha de arroz a 30oC apresentou o máximo rendimento. O meio de resíduos de chá foi usado como material de revestimento e provou ser muito eficaz. Esses resultados indicaram que Lentinus tigrinus apresenta potencial de crescimento e sua domesticação pode competir com as peculiaridades nutricionais e medicinais de uma das espécies mais cultivadas, o shiitake (Lentinus edodes).

Lentinus squarrosulus (Mont.) Singer, a wild edible macrofungus, possesses confirmed organoleptic, nutritional, and medicinal attributes. During the exploration of fungal biota of Punjab, Pakistan, L. squarrosulus was collected under the Morus alba from University of the Punjab, Lahore. For the domestication of this wild significant species, its culturability and cultivation potential was assessed by using different synthetic culture media and substrates. Among these different media used, maximum cultural growth was observed on the malt-extract agar (MEA) medium at 35°C followed by the potato-dextrose agar (PDA), compost extract agar (CEA), glucose-peptone agar (GPA), and Sabouraud-dextrose agar (SDA). Cultured strains on MEA medium were used to produce spawning material on wheat, sorghum, and barley grains. Sorghum grains at 35°C were found to be the best combination for spawn production of this fungus. Yield and biological efficiency were investigated on a variety of substrates. A mixed substrate of wheat straw and tea waste at 30°C showed the optimum yield. Tea-waste medium was used as the casing material and proved very effective. Mineral analysis of the wild and cultivated strain was carried out and revealed that both forms were enriched with macronutrients. These results showed that the L. squarrosulus strain from Pakistan possesses good nutrient and growth potential and its domestication can compete with nutritional and medicinal properties of commonly growing mushrooms.

Mushrooms are a nutritionally, economically, and biotechnologically valuable group of organisms. They are packed with nutritional value in the form of low calories, high protein, and fiber contents...

The 10-page "A checklist of Agaricus from Pakistan" by Niazi, Ghafoor, and Bashir may now be downloaded from Mycotaxon's mycobiota webpage. This brings to 152 the number of free-access Fungae available on http://www.mycotaxon.com/mycobiota/index.html