ABOUT MUSHROOM A mushroom is the reproductive structure produced by some fungi . Mushroom is grown on moist humid and dark places; on rotten logs of wood, tree trunks, soil rich in organic matter , dung cakes , decaying organic matter etc. They are achlorophyllous as they do not contain green pigment called chlorophyll. They cannot make their own food. They get food from decomposing dead and decaying organic matter. So, mushroom are called saprophytic fungi and their mode of nutrition is heterotrophic.
Structure of Mushroom The fruiting body may contain a cap, stalk, ring, volva, and gills. The cap normally houses the spore producing surface of the fruiting body. In the case of the Amanita, the spore-producing cells are in the gills, but in other types of mushrooms, spores are produced in tubes or inside the cap.
LIFE CYCLE OF MUSHROOM The life cycle of a mushroom begins and ends through five stages of evolutionary phases – beginning as a fungal spore (seeds) and completing its cycle as a mature fruiting body – the part of a mushroom we all identify and know– that releases new spores to create a new cycle all over again. The mushroom life span varies between fungi species. One complete life cycle could take one week or up to a month or more. As each stage of a mushroom life cycle is completed, the division and creation of the next generation of the fungal organism begins.
Basidia The basidia is the microscopic club-shaped sporangium that are located on the hymenophore of the fruiting bodies of basidiomycete fungi.
BASIDIUM The organ in the members of the phylum Basidiomycota that bears sexually reproduced bodies called basidiospores. The basidium serves as the site of karyogamy and meiosis, functions by which sex cells fuse, exchange nuclear material, and divide to reproduce basidiospores.
BASIDIOSPORE A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by Basidiomycete fungi, a grouping that includes mushrooms, shelf fungi, rusts, and smuts. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid nucleus that is the product of meiosis, and they are produced by specialized fungal cells called basidia.
MYCELIUM Mycelium is part of the fungi kingdom and is the network of threads, called hyphae, from which mushrooms grow. Not all mycelia fruit mushrooms, depending on the environmental conditions, but all mushrooms come from mycelia. Mycelia are most prevalent in fields, forests, and heavily wooded areas.
BASIDIOCAR P A large sporophore , or fruiting body, in which sexually produced spores are formed on the surface of club-shaped structures (basidia) is called basidiocarp
IMPORTANCE OF MUSHROOM Mushroom as source of protein. Mushroom as source of vitamins. Mushroom as source of minerals. Mushroom as medicines.
MUSHROOM FARMING AND CULTIVATION IN NEPAL In Nepal, mushroom farming is mostly concentrated in the rural areas around major urban centres such as the Kathmandu Valley, Pokhara, and Narayanghat . The average national production of mushrooms is about 8 - 10 tonnes per day. Mushroom farming is concentrated in the rural areas around major urban centres such as the Kathmandu Valley, Pokhara, and Narayanghat . The average national production of mushrooms is about 8 - 10 tonnes per day. However, for traditional mushroom cultivation it is estimated that approximately one kilogram of firewood is consumed to produce one kilogram of fresh oyster mushroom.