Growth assessment of Auricularia auricula in two diffrent substrates containing sawdust and wheat straw

Background and Aim : Auricularia auricula, the Jelly Ear Fungus, is mainly seen in winter and spring. It grows mainly on dead elder trees and on fallen branches, but occasionally you may also find it growing on other kinds of hardwood. The so-called Jelly Fungi are not really a taxonomic group but more a rag-tag of basidiomycetes with jelly-like textures, although few are a soft as the jelly we eat with custard. Many are capable of reconstituting and continuing to produce spores when wetted after desiccationMethods : This process consists of solid culture substrates, such as wheat straw and sawdust with a certain percentage of rice bran. The spawn of A.auricula was prepared on sorghum grain+wheat bran (۳:۱) substrate. ۲۵۰ gram of the substrate with ۶۰ percent of moisture was filled in poly propylene bags of size ۱۲”×۱۲” (۸۰ gauge thickness) and autoclaved at ۱۲۱atm pressure for ۲۰ min. After sterilization, the bags were inoculated with ۱۰۰g of spawn each and incubated at ۲۵-۲۸°C Results : According to the results, solid culture bed containing ۹۰ percent of sawdust and ۱۰ percent rice bran has the high amount of biomass production in the Auricularia fungus. Conclusion : All the results presented here suggest that Auricularia auricula can grow in sawdust solid substrate better than the wheat straw substrate because this fungus has a lignin peroxidase, so it can degradate the lignin in this solid state