129

basidium of Auricularia spp . In most jelly fungi it is easy to see basidia in all
stages of development in squash preparations of fully hydrated living material.
But this is not so in Auricularia spp . After many hours of struggle, I have never
succeeded in seeing a complete basidium, with at least one attached basidiospore
however young, that could be drawn with the aid of a camera lucida. This seems
to be due mainly to the fact that the basidia are firmly welded into a compact
hymenium. The sterigmata from the transversely septate basidium apparently
develop in succession with the uppermost in the lead. Each sterigma (i.e. the
region between the metabasidium and the basidiospore) starts as an extremely
fine hypha that pushes towards the surface often following a tortuous course.
The elongated basidia form a very regular palisade and beyond their tips is a
zone of jelly 15-20 um deep . When the growing end of a sterigma reaches this
zone, it expands considerably and it is from this swollen part that the spiculum
arises piercing the surface of the jelly so that the ballistospore, blown at its tip,
is in the necessary aerial situation for discharge.
The picture of A . auricula-judae (Bull.:St Am.) Pers. in Fig.2 has been
built up from several separate observations, but I believe it is basically correct.
References
BANDONI, R J (1957) The sporesand basidia of Sirobasidium. Mycologia 49, 250-255.
INGOLD , C T (1982) Basidiospore germination and conidium formation in Exidia glandu-
losa and Tremella mesenterica. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 79,
370-373.
INGOLD , C T (1983) A view of the basidium. Bulletin of the British Mycological Society
17,82-94.
INGOLD, C T (1984a) Myxarium nucleatum and its conidial state. Transactions of the
British Mycological Society 82,358-360.
INGOLD, C T (1984b) Patterns of ballistospore germination in Ttlletiopsis, Auricularia
and Tulasnella. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 83,583-591.
INGOLD, C T (1985) Dicellomyces scirpi : its conidial stage and taxonomic position.
Transactions of the British Mycological Society in the press.

CARAMENANAMJAMURMERANG
(The cultivation of the paddy straw mushroom)
Endang Sukara
Botanic Garden, Bogar , Java , Indonesia

Translated and edited by

I B Hendrarto
Department of Fisheries, Diponegro University, Semarang, Java
and
C H Dickinson
Department of Plant Biology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne NE 1 7RU

The edible paddy or rice straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea (Bull.rFr.) Sing.)
has a delicious taste and it contains high levels of carbohydrates, fats , proteins,
minerals and vitamins. Its protein is especially nutritious, as it yields at least
eight amino acids at concentrations which are higher than those in meat, fish ,
vegetables or citrus fruits. These mushrooms are thought by some to be capable
of curing cancer, diabetes , heart disease and hypertension . In addition they are
considered to be valuable in diets used to cure or prevent obesity.
130

Methods of growing Volvariella in Indonesia

A tropical climate, such as is found in Indonesia, is especially favourable for
growing the rice straw mushroom. All that is needed to grow them is rice straw
or banana leaves; the former is readily available wherever rice is the staple food
and bananas are widely grown around villages and individual houses.
The best places to make the mushroom growing beds ('bedengan') are in
shade created by trees or creepers. The beds are usually built in an east-west
direction and the base is raised to ensure that the straw is not flooded in the
rainy season. On the other hand the straw must not be allowed to dry out and
trenches are dug around the bed to distribute water when this is required to
maintain damp conditions. The raised base of the bed is usually made from soil
but if this is too sandy to make a firm platform then bamboo poles, bricks
or wooden planks may be used to ensure that the base will withstand erosion.
The actual mushroom compost is made from either dry rice straw or
banana leaves. Rice straw is tied up in bundles, about 10 em in diameter, using
ropes made from banana leafsheath fibres. These bundles are trimmed to 40 em
in length and soaked overnight in fresh, preferably running water. The best
banana compost is made from dead dry leaves collected directly off the plants.
About 10 such leaves are bundled up, tied, trimmed and soaked, as for the rice
straw.
A stout bamboo pole is then driven into the centre of each end of the
bed and the bundles of material are laid down in neat layers, with each layer
being spawned before the next is added (Fig.l ). The bedengan may only have
four layers in the dry season but up to seven are permissible during the rainy
times of the year. The bed is finally topped with a 20 cm deep layer of rice
straw and the whole construction is covered with a polythene sheet supported
on a bamboo framework.

Figure 1. Preparation of the bed showing the raised base, layers of bundles,
capping of straw and bamboo hoops on which the polythene cover
rests.

Production of spawn
A number of methods are used to produce spawn. These include elaborate
procedures, involving sterile materials, and simpler processes in which the only
microbiological precautions are to use good quality biological specimens and
 131

clean vessels. One such simple method involves selecting about 4 kg of healthy,
young mushrooms which are immediately chopped up using a clean, sharp knife.
The mushroom pieces are then added to 1.5 kg of a damp, but not wet, 1: 1
vlv mixture of rice husk and husk ash (made by gently heating the husk on a tin
lid). The mixture is then packed into clean bottles and kept overnight. Any
bottles which are then seen to contain an extensive floccose mycelium (probably
of a member of the Mucorales (Fig.Za) are discarded and the remainder (Fig.2b)
are incubated for about 2 weeks. This spawn is then used to inoculate each
layer of the bedengan.

..<.?".: =;J<;:~
~) . . c..:>\ >-1 .
'~~
" '.: .," . .'.:"\ '.a.
.
. .. J" -. ~ ~ .
'~ ..
'
, ....
\ . ' .
.

":.,/.:~f,_
.: ':;,':.
. ,:"•.."• .v.-, ". " .• ~.

:B '\ " , • • .;. ' 1/• •: ' r: j;

.. .
/\1.
.... . • . •. ,I
,,~

Figure 2. Production of spawn in husk/ash mixture. Bottles in which a culture

as in (a) appears are discarded, but those with the culture in (b) are
grown on for 2 weeks.

Spawning involves wrapping a thumb-sized lump of inoculum in a piece of

newspaper which has been soaked for about 10 min in a dilute solution of urea.
Each packet of spawn is then pushed into a 5 em deep hole in the bundles of
rice straw or banana leaves. These holes are made at about 10 em intervals
around the layer, with each being 7 cm from the outside edge. The spawn is
covered by adding the next layer of bundles or the rice straw topping.

Cropping
The polythene sheet covers playa dual role in that it increases both the tempera-
ture and the humidity. However, after 5 days the sheet is removed and on the
sixth day the bed is carefully sprinkled with water. Spraying may be unnecessary
in the rainy season and in any event it should not be carried out after the mush-
room pinheads appear on the surface of the bed.
The sporophores reach the size of hens' eggs 10-14 days after spawning
and the first harvest is taken at this time (Fig.S), The mushrooms are detached
by a twisting action. If the stalks are cut the portions remaining will decay and
the whole bed may be spoilt. If desired some sporophores can be left to expand
to give open cups or 'blossom' mushrooms.
The first flush may yield up to 75% of the expected crop. When the first
132

Figure 3. Cropping occurs along the sides of the bed.

flush is picked any pin heads which are visible are left undisturbed . These are
ready for harvesting 4-7 days later , at which time more pin heads will herald
the start of the next flush.
Harvesting usually continues for 4 weeks and over this time a 6 layered
bedengan may yield 7 kg of closed fruitbodies or 13 kg of blossom mushrooms.

Pests, pathogens and competitors

Common pests of Volvariella include red and black ants , termites , mites, snails
and rats. Traps are used to catch rats, snails are picked off by hand but the in-
sects present a problem as pesticides adversely affect the mushroom. Competi-
tion and disease may be due to the growth of bacteria and fungi. The most
common fungal contaminants are species of Coprinus. Other fungi found in
these beds are Corticium sp., Dactylium dendroides, Diechliomyces mi crosporus,
Fusarium spp . and Sclerotium sp , These fungi are best controlled by attention to
hygiene but some attacks can also be successfully treated by using benlate,
which does not affect Volvariella.

Cooking rice straw mushrooms

It is best not to use too many ingredients which may mask the delightful flavour
of these mushrooms. Do not skin the mushroom unless absolutely necessary and
do not soak in water before cooking because this will affect their taste and will
reduce the mineral and vitamin content.
It is usually recommended that the mushrooms are cooked using a high
heat over a short period, but they should not be overcooked because this will
affect their nutritional value and their delicate taste.

Reference
SUKARA, E (1981) CaraMenanamJamur Merang, Jakarta: Penerbit Bhratara Karya Aksara.