GB2028082A

GB2028082A - Containers for mushroom cultivation

Info

Publication number: GB2028082A
Application number: GB7928342A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Polyplastics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Polyplastics Co Ltd
Priority date: 1978-08-23
Filing date: 1979-08-14
Publication date: 1980-03-05
Also published as: FR2433897A1; JPS5585330A; CA1120721A; DE2932985A1

Abstract

In the fungus bed cultivation of mushrooms, the effect of bacteria and microbes infectious to mushroom cultivation is prevented by the use of a vessel comprising a container and cover therefor, characterised in that when the vessel is in the closed condition, air can pass into the vessel only through a porous plastics film material which is permeable to gas but which is impermeable to such bacteria and microbes. In one embodiment the container of the vessel is provided with an aperture in a wall thereof which has a sheet of the said plastics film material attached thereon to cover the aperture, and in another embodiment the cover of the vessel is provided with an aperture and there is also provided an element of the porous plastics film adapted to cover the aperture. The said element may be mounted on the cover or separate from the said cover and may be disposed between the cover and the container when the vessel is in the closed position, e.g. the element may be mounted on an annular support. The vessel used in the mushroom cultivation may be a bottle, for instance made of air-impermeable plastics material, and the cover may be a screw on cap for the bottle. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION The use of a vessel for cultivation of mushrooms The present invention relates to a novel airpermeable vessel which is suitable for use in fungus bed cultivation of mushrooms, and such cultivation using said vessels.

Hitherto for cultivating mushrooms, socalled material wood cultivation has been used, employing material woods such as Quercus serrata and Quercus gladulifera. Recently however fungus bed cultivation has been extensively used, which provides shorter cultivation times. One method for carrying out fungus bed cultivation uses a vessel comprising a container and a cover therefor, e.g. a bottle made of plastics material and a cap therefor. Such bottles utilizing fungus bed cultivation have been extensively used to cultivate mushrooms including Collybia Velutipes, Pholiota Mutabilis, Pleurotus Ostreatus and Amanita Caesarea. An example of such a vessel is illustrated in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings, wherein a cotton plug 3 is inserted in an aperture 2 in the cap 1 whereby air permeates into the container only through the cotton plus.

However such a method employing a cotton plug has the following drawbacks: (1) A considerable amount of skill is required for applying the plug propertly; (2) Infectious microbes can in fact intrude from the cotton plug, resulting in up to 30% of rejects; (3) It is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain the special type of cotton used for the plug.

The present invention provides a vessel for cultivating mushrooms comprising a container and a cover therefor, characterized in that when the vessel is in a closed condition, air can pass into said vessel only through a porous plastics film material which is permeable to gas but which is impermeable to bacteria and microbes infectious to mushroom cultivation.

The porous film employed in the present invention can be prepared according to various known methods, for example as follows: (a) A substance which is soluble in a solvent is admixed with plastics material to form a thin film, and thereafter said substance is dissolved out of said film by a solvent therefor to form micropores therein; (b) A liquid functioning as a non-solvent to the polymer used as the film is employed as a coagulating agent; (c) A synthetic resin solution comprising a synthetic resin, a solvent and a non-solvent is freed of said solvent and thereafter freed of said non-solvent to form a film containing micropores; (d) A substance initially containing micropores is admixed with a polymer to form a microporous film product; (e) Polymer particles are sintered to form voids as micropores within a film of polymer particles;; (f) A film is irradiated by radiation to degrade portions of the film, which degraded portions are then dissolved to form micropores; (g) A swellable substance in a swollen state is mixed into a polymer and a film of the resulting mixture is dried to form voids as micropores through volume shrinkage; (h) A film of a crystalline polymer is stretched under conditions to develop a lamella structure and thereafter thermal setting is effected after a suitable elongation deformation has been imparted to the film thereby to generate microvoids; (i) A film prepared from a polymer having a filler e.g. a fine powder of an inorganic substance added thereto is stretched to form micropores; (j) Thin fibres of several microns are meltblown to form a sheet having micropores.

Plastics material used to form the porous film employed in the present invention include for example polyolefin e.g. polyethylene and polypropylene, polycarbonates, polyamides, vinyl polymers, cellulosic polymers and fluorine-containing polymers. In general the pore size of pores in the plastics film is such as to prevent permeation therethrough of bacteria or infectious microbes which would cause contamination during the growing of mushrooms. Thus a pore diameter of 0.01 to 1 y may be used, a pore diameter of 0.0. to 0.4 y being preferred. In some circumstances, e.g.

when the pores meander through the film, a diameter of 10 jb may be suitable for obtaining the object of the invention.

A commercially available microporous polypropylene film suitable for use in the present invention is obtainable under the Trade Mark DURAGARD, marketed by Polyplastics Co.

and which has elongate micropores of 0.4 y maximum major diameter.

In one embodiment of the invention, the said container of the vessel is provided with an aperture in a wall thereof and has a sheet of the said plastics material attached thereon to cover said aperture.

In another embodiment the said cover of the vessel is provided with an aperture, and there is also provided an element of said porous plastics film adapted to cover said aperture.

In the latter embodiment the said element of porous plastics material may be mounted on the said cover, or may be an element separate from the said cover e.g. adapted for mounting between the cover and the container, or in the form of a plug adapted to fit into the said aperture of the cover.

The vessel may conveniently comprise a bottle e.g. of air-impermeable plastics material for example polypropylene, and the said cover cap e.g. a screw-on cap for the bottle.

Fig. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a bottle according to the invention where an aperture 5 is provided in the wall 4 of the plastics bottle, and a porous film 6 is attached to an adhesive layer 7 provided around the periphery of the said aperture 5. The aperture 5 is preferably disposed at a level above a culture 8 contained in the bottle.

Fig. 3 illustrates a further embodiment in which a porous film 11 is attached to the inner side of a screw-cap 9 of the bottle, which cap contains an aperture 10, by an adhesive layer 1 2 provided around the total periphery of the aperture. The porous film 11 may if desired be attached directly to the cover 9 by thermal adhesion.

Fig. 4 illustrates another embodiment in which the screw-cap 9 of the bottle contains an aperture 10, and a porous film 14 is supported between the cap and the bottle top between two packing materials 1 3 and 13', attached to the film.

Fig. 5 illustrates a further embodiment wherein the screw-cap of the bottle contains an aperture 10, and the porous film is attached to an inner cover 1 5 in the form of an annular support and a porous film 1 8 is attached onto an adhering layer 1 7 provided around the total periphery of the aperture 1 6.

In the above embodiments, the porous film may, if desired, be attached to the bottle or cap by thermal adhesion.

Fig. 6 illustrates an embodiment where, in a bottle of which a screw-cap 9 contains an aperture 10, and a porous film 1 9 is inserted into the aperture 10 with a flexible plug 21 containing an axial aperture 20.

An example of the use of the container according to the invention is hereinafter provided.

500 g of a culture obtained by mixing sawdust of a deciduous tree with rice bran in a mixing ratio by volume of 4:1 and adding water to provide a water content of about 60%, was introduced in each of 100 cultivation bottles of polypropylene having a volume of 1000 cc, and thereafter a cap of polypropylene as shown in Fig. 3, having the opening part thereof sealed with a film of DURA GARD 4510 was screwed on. The bottles were then sterilized at 1 20 C for one hour.

After the temperature of the sterilized bottles reached 30"C or lower, a seed fungus of Collybia Velutipes was inoculated into the culture within the bottles. Culture was then continued at 1 8 to 20"C for 25 days. Thereafter the steps of scratch of fungus, inhibition, growth, and paper-wrapping were carried out in conventional manner, and the cropping of the mushrooms was carried out 35 days after the cultivation step. The same cultivation was carried out with cultivation bottles employing a conventional cotton plug. With the bottles according to the invention no contamination by infectious microbes was observed, whereas when using the cultivation bottles employing a cotton plug, it was observed that 21 bottles of the 100 bottles used were contaminated.

Claims

1. A vessel for cultivating mushrooms comprising a container and a cover therefor, characterized in that when the vessel is in a closed condition, air can pass into said vessel only through a porous plastics film material which is permeable to gas but which is impermeable to bacteria and microbes infectious to mushroom cultivation.

2. A vessel according to Claim 1, wherein the pores of the said porous plastics film have a pore diameter of from 0.1 to 1 p.

3. A vessel according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the said container of the vessel is provided with an aperture in a wall thereof, and has a sheet of the said plastics material attached thereon to cover said aperture.

4. A vessel according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the said cover of the vessel is provided with an aperture, and there is also provided an element of said porous plastics film adapted to cover said aperture.

5. A vessel according to Claim 4, wherein the said element of porous plastics material is mounted on the said cover.

6. A vessel according to Claim 4, wherein the said element of porous plastics material is an element separate from the said cover.

7. A vessel according to Claim 6, wherein the said separate element is adapted to be disposed between the said cover and the said container when the vessel is in a closed condition

8. A vessel according to Claim 7, wherein the said element comprises the said porous plastics film mounted on an annular support.

9. A vessel according to Claim 4, wherein the said element of porous plastics material is mounted over a plug containing an axial aperture adapted to fit into the said aperture of the cover.

1 0. A vessel according to any of Claims 1 to 9, wherein the said vessel is a bottle.

11. A vessel according to Claim 10, wherein the said bottle is made of air-impermeable plastics material.

1 2. A vessel according to Claim 11, wherein the said bottle is made of polypropylene.

1 3. A vessel according to any of Claims 10 to 12, wherein the said cover is a screwon cap for the said bottle.

14. A vessel according to Claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described.

1 5. A vessel according to Claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in any of Figs. 2 to 6 of the accompa nying drawings.

16. The use in fungus bed cultivation of mushrooms of a vessel according to any of Claims 1 to 15.