The Potential of Sitka Spruce Bark as an Alternative to Peat Casing for Mushroom (<i>Agaricus bisporus</i>) Production
White button mushrooms are an important crop globally, and due to the role of peat in current cultivation practices, the industry is under increasing pressure to find suitable alternatives. Peat functions as “casing”, a surface layer that, amongst other functions, provides available water to the fun...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Horticulturae |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/11/1/100 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832588370934497280 |
|---|---|
| author | Gabrielle Young Helen Grogan Eoghan Corbett Brian W. McGuinness Michael T. Gaffney Saoirse Tracy Olaf Schmidt Lael Walsh |
| author_facet | Gabrielle Young Helen Grogan Eoghan Corbett Brian W. McGuinness Michael T. Gaffney Saoirse Tracy Olaf Schmidt Lael Walsh |
| author_sort | Gabrielle Young |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | White button mushrooms are an important crop globally, and due to the role of peat in current cultivation practices, the industry is under increasing pressure to find suitable alternatives. Peat functions as “casing”, a surface layer that, amongst other functions, provides available water to the fungal mycelium and is considered essential for mushroom growth. This research aimed to determine the potential of bark as an alternative casing material and its suitability for commercial mushroom production. Two experiments were conducted, comparing two types of commercially available peat casing with bark-based casings. The bark casing in Experiment A was found to be statistically similar to the peat casing in terms of yield and quality. The two bark casings in Experiment B failed to produce a 1st flush of mushrooms, and total yields were significantly lower compared to the peat casings, highlighting the fact that the consistency of the bark material across both experiments was variable. There were several issues associated with the bark casing, which included water stress and cropping delays, all of which would be unacceptable from a commercial perspective. Further research is required to refine bark-based casing, focusing on a better consistency of the bark feedstock and reduction of contamination risk. This work contributes to ongoing research and development to address the dependency of mushroom production on peat. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c5b2d950cd804720ab450847aa48b5a6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2311-7524 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Horticulturae |
| spelling | doaj-art-c5b2d950cd804720ab450847aa48b5a62025-01-24T13:34:46ZengMDPI AGHorticulturae2311-75242025-01-0111110010.3390/horticulturae11010100The Potential of Sitka Spruce Bark as an Alternative to Peat Casing for Mushroom (<i>Agaricus bisporus</i>) ProductionGabrielle Young0Helen Grogan1Eoghan Corbett2Brian W. McGuinness3Michael T. Gaffney4Saoirse Tracy5Olaf Schmidt6Lael Walsh7School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, IrelandHorticulture Development Department, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, D15 DY05 Dublin, IrelandHorticulture Development Department, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, D15 DY05 Dublin, IrelandHorticulture Development Department, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, D15 DY05 Dublin, IrelandHorticulture Development Department, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, D15 DY05 Dublin, IrelandSchool of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, IrelandSchool of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, IrelandHorticulture Development Department, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, D15 DY05 Dublin, IrelandWhite button mushrooms are an important crop globally, and due to the role of peat in current cultivation practices, the industry is under increasing pressure to find suitable alternatives. Peat functions as “casing”, a surface layer that, amongst other functions, provides available water to the fungal mycelium and is considered essential for mushroom growth. This research aimed to determine the potential of bark as an alternative casing material and its suitability for commercial mushroom production. Two experiments were conducted, comparing two types of commercially available peat casing with bark-based casings. The bark casing in Experiment A was found to be statistically similar to the peat casing in terms of yield and quality. The two bark casings in Experiment B failed to produce a 1st flush of mushrooms, and total yields were significantly lower compared to the peat casings, highlighting the fact that the consistency of the bark material across both experiments was variable. There were several issues associated with the bark casing, which included water stress and cropping delays, all of which would be unacceptable from a commercial perspective. Further research is required to refine bark-based casing, focusing on a better consistency of the bark feedstock and reduction of contamination risk. This work contributes to ongoing research and development to address the dependency of mushroom production on peat.https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/11/1/100peat-freesustainable productionalternativebyproductsnovel materials |
| spellingShingle | Gabrielle Young Helen Grogan Eoghan Corbett Brian W. McGuinness Michael T. Gaffney Saoirse Tracy Olaf Schmidt Lael Walsh The Potential of Sitka Spruce Bark as an Alternative to Peat Casing for Mushroom (<i>Agaricus bisporus</i>) Production Horticulturae peat-free sustainable production alternative byproducts novel materials |
| title | The Potential of Sitka Spruce Bark as an Alternative to Peat Casing for Mushroom (<i>Agaricus bisporus</i>) Production |
| title_full | The Potential of Sitka Spruce Bark as an Alternative to Peat Casing for Mushroom (<i>Agaricus bisporus</i>) Production |
| title_fullStr | The Potential of Sitka Spruce Bark as an Alternative to Peat Casing for Mushroom (<i>Agaricus bisporus</i>) Production |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Potential of Sitka Spruce Bark as an Alternative to Peat Casing for Mushroom (<i>Agaricus bisporus</i>) Production |
| title_short | The Potential of Sitka Spruce Bark as an Alternative to Peat Casing for Mushroom (<i>Agaricus bisporus</i>) Production |
| title_sort | potential of sitka spruce bark as an alternative to peat casing for mushroom i agaricus bisporus i production |
| topic | peat-free sustainable production alternative byproducts novel materials |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/11/1/100 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gabrielleyoung thepotentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT helengrogan thepotentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT eoghancorbett thepotentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT brianwmcguinness thepotentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT michaeltgaffney thepotentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT saoirsetracy thepotentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT olafschmidt thepotentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT laelwalsh thepotentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT gabrielleyoung potentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT helengrogan potentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT eoghancorbett potentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT brianwmcguinness potentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT michaeltgaffney potentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT saoirsetracy potentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT olafschmidt potentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction AT laelwalsh potentialofsitkasprucebarkasanalternativetopeatcasingformushroomiagaricusbisporusiproduction |