Abstract

The cultivation of shiitake in Latin America started during the early 1980's, and several attempts for its commercial cultivation have been carried out during the last decade in Guatemala, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. However, a major constrain has been the lack of basic research, allowing further development. In this work, we studied two genotypes of Lentinula edodes (CP-7 and CP-163) selected from 16 strains being used in the region at different levels, in order to assess their mycelial growth rate in Petri dishes, as well as yield (biologic efficiency, production rate) and quality of fruit bodies, using 10 different formulations of supplemented sawdust from a common Mexican oak tree (Quercus acutifolia Neé). The best mycelial development was 8.5 mm/day for the genotype CP-163 cultivated on 70% Quercus sawdust, 10% corn-cobs, 10% maize stubble, 7% wheat bran and 3% rice meal. The highest yield was recorded in the genotype CP-7, using 60% Quercus sawdust, 28.5% corn-cobs, 10% maize stubble, 1.5% gypsum, thiamine (100 mg/kg), and magnesium sulfate (20 g/100 kg); reaching a biologic efficiency of 103%, a production rate of 1.3, and a high proportion (41.8%) of fruit bodies, having good commercial quality (41 to 70 g fresh weight, > 12 cm cap diameter and 96.5% of regular shape). On the basis of this study, this last genotype and formulation was recommended, as well as to establish a breeding program at the molecular level for shiitake production on a large scale in Mexico or other Latin American countries.

Key words: Edible mushrooms, genotypes, substrates, mycelial growth rate, biologic efficiency.