Vol. 10, Issue 7 (2021)

Author(s):
Omkar Singh, KPS Kushwaha, Shivani Pathak and Arun Kumar Kushwaha

Abstract:
Mushrooms are being used since the time immemorial. Nowadays, mushrooms are popular valuable foods because they are low in calories, carbohydrates, fat, and sodium, they are also cholesterol-free. Besides, mushrooms provide important nutrients, including selenium, potassium, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin D, proteins, and fiber. All together with a long history as food source, mushrooms are important for their healing capacities and properties in traditional medicine. There are different kinds of edible mushrooms cultivated all over the world. Among them Agaricus is the most popular and accepted edible mushroom. Agaricus bisporus commonly known as white button mushroom belongs to phylum Basidiomycota. Mushrooms are the health food of the world keeping in its importance, the studies of growth behavior and yield potential of different strains (Delta, NBS-5, ICAF, A-15, and MC-465) were tested. Among various strains of Agaricus bisporus, strain Delta produced maximum mushroom yield and number of fruiting bodies i.e., 20.28 kg per q of compost and 104.00 respectively as compared to NBS-5, ICAF, A-15, and MC-465 strains, whereas minimum fruit body was observed in MC-465 (85.50) with 14.11 kg of production per 100 kg of compost. In the growth behavior, NBS-5 gave the highest body weight followed by the other strains. Maximum average body length and stripe was found in MC-465 strain of Agaricus bisporus.