Gourav sabharwal
Agriculture wastes are rich in nutrients which provides major concern in today’s world became there disposal without Pretreatment can cause leaching in field which can cause environmental pollution. To overcome this problem, mushroom cultivation on these agricultural wastes is the most ecofriendly method to reduce the level of nutrients at acceptable range to be used as manure. Besides overcoming this problem defined combination of agricultural wastes also gives high yield of mushroom in a cost effective manner.
Agricultural wastes are rich in lignincellulosic components which are difficult to breakdown, but can effectively be done mushroom cultivation. Mushrooms are fleshly fungi, sporebearing fruiting bodies which are produced above ground on soil. They often refer to fruiting body of the gill fungi, which do not contain chlorophyll like green plants and as a result cannot manufacture food by their own.
They are very nutritious products that can be generated from lignocellulosic waste materials. The bioconversion of agricultural wastes into a value added products is a good mean of their use . The property of edible mushroom fungi to convert complex organic compounds into simpler one’s is used to transform the useless agricultural waste into valuable product .
Various edible mushroom strains are cultivated worldwide. Some of them are given below:
o Button -Agaricus
o Oyster -Pleurotous
o Shiitake -Lentinula Edodes
o Straw -Volvallella volvacea
o Chinese mushroom – Ganoderma
Besides having many nutrional values they are also useful in waste management. The choice of species to cultivate depends on the availability of growth media. Oyster mushroom is the third most cultivated edible mushroom in the world .Oyster mushrooms are easiest to grow as they can grow on many substrates but their cultivation has one drawback as some people are allergic to their spores.
In these cases, air-cleaning equipment or respirators are necessary in order to safely work in the production facility. Because of the short shelf life this species offer a special advantage to the local grower who markets directly and can continuously deliver a fresh, high-quality product.
Two mycorrhizal mushrooms, morels and truffles are commercially cultivated. Mushroom cultivation offers benefits to market gardens when it is integrated into the existing production system. Mushrooms are rich in various nutrients such as:
o Protein- Protein content of dry weight is between 18% and 37%.
o Fat- Fat is present at low rate, content between 1-8%. The high content of linollic acids is one of the reasons why mushrooms are considered healthy food.
o Vitamins and minerals – Mushrooms are a good source of vitamins such as thiamine (Vitamin B), Riboflavin (vitamin B2) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), folic acid. They also contain significant amounts of phosphorus, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and Zinc.
Protein content of mushroom in paddy was significantly higher than in wheat straw while lipid content of mushrooms was higher in wheat straw than paddy straw . Mushrooms have medicinal values as they contain substances which lower the cholesterol level in serum and liver which in turn makes it good for those suffering from heart diseases.
Some of them contain substances, which suppress the growth rate of tumors.
Free radicals can damage body cells and induce cancers. Free radicals are the result of specific transformation process. Many bio active compounds protect the body against these radicals.
These substances are often called anti oxidants and are present in many mushrooms. In other words, the body immunity is boosted. This will be a relief to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
