RT Journal Article ID 52ba0f7c0d0f5c9f A1 Veena, S. S. A1 Pandey, Meera T1 Paddy Straw as a Substrate for the Cultivation of Lingzhi or Reishi Medicinal Mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum (W.Curt. :Fr.) P. Karst. in India JF International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms JO IJM YR 2011 FD 2011-10-07 VO 13 IS 4 SP 397 OP 400 K1 medicinal mushrooms K1 Ganoderma lucidum K1 paddy straw K1 cultivation K1 rice bran K1 sawdust AB Lingzhi or Reishi medicinal mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum, is generally cultivated on hardwood logs or sawdust/woodchips based formulations. More than 100 million tonnes of paddy straw is being produced in India per year, and almost 50% of the straw is potentially available for growing mushrooms. In the present study an attempt was made to use paddy straw as a substrate to cultivate G. lucidim. Different proportions of paddy straw were mixed with 0, 22.5%, 45%, and 67.5% sawdust and 10% rice bran. Spawn run period, fruiting initiation period, yield, moisture content, dry recovery, and fruiting body characteristics were recorded and compared. Fructification was observed with all the substrate formulations and they did not show any significant difference in yield. The highest biological efficiency (BE) (29.9%) was observed with the combination sawdust:paddy straw:rice bran 22.5:67.5:10, followed by saw dust:paddy straw:rice bran 45:45:10 with BE 27.3%. The current study demonstrated for the first time that the cultivation of G. lucidum is possible with paddy straw as the base substrate and indicated the enormous potential of paddy straw for the cultivation of G. lucidum. PB Begell House LK https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/708ae68d64b17c52,7157a84928f91612,52ba0f7c0d0f5c9f.html