title: Influence of substrate wood-chip particle size on shiitake (Lentinula edodes) yield.
abstract: Wood chips from four commercial hardwood sawmills were screened with 10 US standard sieves (4-0.21 mm) to assess particle size distributions. 96-98% of wood chips were < 4 mm while 95-99% of particles were > 0.21 mm. The majority (mean = 64.5%) of wood chips passed through US standard sieve size 14 (< 1.4 mm). Shiitake (Lentinula edodes) was grown in three crops to determine the effect of four particle size classes (1 = 2.8-4 mm; 2 = 1.7-2.8 mm; 3 = 0.85-1.7 mm; 4 = < 0.85 mm) on mushroom yield. Yields from substrates prepared with wood chips from class 4 (< 0.85 mm) were lower by 27.7%, 12.4% and 2% (mean = 14.9%) for Crops I, II, and III, respectively, when compared to controls. Profiling of wood chips may help growers optimize their production media and reduce production costs.
authors.affiliation: Mushroom Research Center, Department of Plant Pathology, 316 Buckhout Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. djr4@psu.edu
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Royse
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Sanchez-Vazquez
mesh_terms: D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000254:growth & development; D005308:Fertilizers; D019649:Food Industry / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D010316:Particle Size; D020942:Shiitake Mushrooms / Q000254:growth & development*; D014934:Wood
chemical_list: D005308:Fertilizers