Domestication and Cultivation of Wild Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus pulmonarius)

Wild mushroom identification, domestication and their comparison with commercial strain and their later usage in breeding program is very important. Samples of Pleurotus with similar morphological characteristics were collected from Lakan forest located in west of Guilan province and cultured on MEA, PDA, LA and V8 media and incubated at 15, 20, 25 and 30 °C. Spawn were prepared after completion of spawn run on medium and mushroom was cultivated on rice straw. After harvesting, identification of species was carried out using PCR and micro and macroscopic characteristics. Results showed that domesticated species is Pleurotus pulmonarius. The highest mycelium growth rate (8.44 mm day-1), the shortest duration for mycelium growth completion (5.66 days) and the highest mycelium dry matter (58.5 mg 5 ml-1) were obtained from samples grown on MEA and incubated at 25 °C. This species had 20.37% of protein.