Influence of enriched soaking water on shiitake (Lentinus edodes (Berk.) Singer) mushroom yield and properties

<p><em></em>Shiitake is an edible mushroom native to East Asia. In the present research, the soaking water was targeted as the vehicle to enrich the substrate. The amount of nutrients in the substrate is severely reduced by mycelium growth and development during spawn running and browning period. Some part of this reduction can be compensated by soaking the substrate in the enriched soaking water. In this study, soaking water was enriched by some complement materials and enrichment effects on some important properties of shiitake mushroom were evaluated. The highest biological efficiency (69.88 %) was gained with soaking the blocks in wheat bran extraction suspension. The highest dry matter of mushroom was obtained by rice bran extraction suspension as the enriched soaking water. The results of this research showed that some important properties of shiitake mushroom can be improved by soaking the blocks with enriched soaking water. According to the results, wheat bran extraction suspension was the best enriched solution to increase productivity of shiitake mushrooms and rice bran extraction suspension was suitable to improve quality of mushrooms.<strong></strong></p>