The effect of some growth enhancing factors on the yield of the mushroom and its post-harvest life

The edible mushroom Agaricus bisporus is the most abundant industrially cultivated mushroom, which constitutes an important component of the food basket of people in the world because of its appropriate nutritional quality, especially high content of protein. On the other hand, we know that the use of vitamins, hormones, and amino acids improves the vegetative growth of the mushroom and improves its overall production in different flashes of harvest. In this sense, this study was conducted in two separate experiments in order to evaluate the effects of vitamins B and C, IBA hormone and amino acid tryptophan on the growth and yield of the button mushroom in the mushroom cultivation house and its postharvest life during the storage. A completely randomized block design with factorial arrangements in three replications was employed using three levels of vitamin C (0, 0.5, and 1 mg/kg), three levels of vitamin B (0, 3, and 6 mg/kg), three levels of IBA (0, 0.001, and 0.002 M/kg), and three levels of tryptophan (0, 3150, and 6300 mg/kg). The results showed the effectiveness of feeding supplements on the vegetative growth of the mushroom, with in the first flash the greatest number of mushroom and the highest dry weight were obtained with vitamin B treatment and the highest content of vitamin C, harvest weight, ash percentage, fresh weight, base diameter, and percentage of ionic leakage were obtained with vitamin B treatment, while the tryptophan treatment had the greatest yield of second-class mushroom and exhibited the highest cap diameter. In the postharvest experiment, the greatest hardness after 32 days storage was observed with vitamin B treatment, while the highest postharvest harness and whiteness (either as fresh or after 32 days of storage), and the highest drip-loss was obtained with vitamin C and IBA treatments, respectively. In the second flash, the greatest cap diameter, base diameter, ash percentage, vitamin C content, and ionic leakage were found with vitamin C treatment, while the highest dry and fresh weight and the greatest amount of second-class mushroom were obtained with tryptophan, and the most total harvest yield was exhibited with IBA treatment. In the second flash of the second experiment, the greatest amounts of drip-loss, harness at the harvest time, and hardness after 32 days storage were detected in vitamin C treatment, and the greatest whiteness either at the harvest time or after 32 days storage was obtained with vitamin B treatment. Comparison between the two flashes showed significant differences in the effects of treatments on the number of mushrooms, total weight, fresh and dry weights, ionic leakage, cap diameter, drip-loss and hardness after 32 days storage. The number of mushrooms, total weight and ionic leakage were higher in the first flash, whereas dry and fresh weights, cap diameter, and hardness after 32 days storage were higher in the second flash. A lower drip-loss was also found in the first flash.