Mushroom cultivation has gained increased attention in recent years. Currently, only four types of spawn, including sawdust spawn, grain spawn, liquid spawn, and stick spawn, are commonly available for mushroom cultivation. This limited spawn diversity has led to difficulty in selecting suitable inoculum materials in some cultivation. In this study, three small blocks of lignocellulosic agro-wastes and one block of a synthetic matrix were prepared as support for growing Pleurotus ostreatus in liquid medium. Mycelium-adsorbed blocks were then evaluated for their potential as block spawn for fructification. Our results indicated that the edible fungus was adsorbed and abundantly grew internally and externally on loofah sponge and synthetic polyurethane foam (PUF) supports and also has the ability to attach and grow on the surface of sugarcane bagasse and corncob supports. The mycelia of P . ostreatus adhered on corncob exhibited the highest metabolic activity, while those on the PUF showed the least activity. Mycelial extension rates of block spawns made of agro-waste materials were comparable to that of sawdust spawn, but the block spawn of PUF showed a significantly lower rate. No significant differences in cropping time and yield were observed among cultivations between experimental block spawns and sawdust spawns. Moreover, the corncob block spawn maintained its fruiting potential during an examined period of 6-month storage. The developed block spawn could be practically applied in mushroom cultivation.

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Ganoderma lucidum, known as Lingzhi in China and Reishi in Japan, is a famous medicinal mushroom that is commonly produced by solid-state fermentation. Recently, submerged culture has been considered as a promising alternative for production of G. lucidum. Herein, to provide a theoretical base for preparation of a homogenous inoculum for G. lucidum submerged culture we investigated the effect of sonoporation on G. lucidum mycelium. Submerged culture was also evaluated using the sonoporated mycelium. Microscopic investigation indicated that the mycelial pellets (0.55 g, dry weight) contained in 60 mL solution were almost completely disappeared within 20 s by sonoporation (20 kHz and 125 w). The homogenate obtained after sonoporation had a 3.75×106 cfu/mL cell concentration. The sonoporation caused rapid leakage of intracellular protein that increased linearly with time. The metabolic activity of the cells decreased rapidly after sonoporation. Sonoporation also negatively affected laccase activity. When the homogenate was used at 4.76% (v/v) inoculum level, the cultures produced biomass and exopolysaccharide of 15.75 and 0.54 g/L, respectively; these values were 129.26 and 45.95% higher than that of the control culture using a pellet-type inoculum without sonoporation. Optimal inoculum size was 5.88-6.97% (v/v). We conclude that sonoporation is an effective method for homogenization of G. lucidum mycelium, and sonoporated mycelium can improve productivity significantly in G. lucidum submerged culture and requires lower levels of starting inoculum.

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