Mushrooms complement almost any everyday meal — from appetizers and salads to main dishes and sides, mushrooms can be enjoyed in so many ways. Find some of Mushroom Council's best tips and tricks for mushroom preparation here.

Select mushrooms that are firm with a fresh, smooth appearance. The surfaces of the mushroom should be dry, but not dried out, and appear plump.

Store mushrooms in original packaging or in a porous paper bag for prolonged shelf life. Some mushrooms may keep for up to one week in the refrigerator.

Brush off any debris from mushrooms with fingers or a damp paper towel, or rinse briefly under running water and pat dry with a paper towel. If the mushroom stem is tough, trim it before using.

Sear mushrooms for a more intense roasted, charred and smoky flavor and overall aroma. Roast mushrooms to get more sweet, salty and umami tastes with caramelized, nutty and buttery flavors.

Mushrooms are naturally low in sodium plus their umami counter-balances saltiness so less salt can be used in a dish without compromising flavor.

Meaty mushrooms are low in calories, fat-free and can be a delicious substitute for higher-calorie ingredients.

The Blend™ combines meat with finely chopped mushrooms so you can enjoy reduced-calorie versions of the recipes you love like burgers, lasagna, meatloaf and meatballs, without sacrificing taste or texture.

 The Blend™ enhances flavor, helps reduce calorie, fat, and sodium intake, and adds important nutrients like vitamin D, B vitamins, antioxidants and potassium (8%) to the plate.

Source: Mushroom Council

AURORA, Colo., March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MycoTechnology, Inc., the world's leading explorer of mushroom mycelia, has set its sights on achieving global scale and realizing its innovation pipeline after securing a funding injection of $85 million. The recently concluded Series E fundraise represents the Colorado-based company's largest single round of financing since it was established in 2013, bringing total fundraising to-date to more than $200 million.

This new investment will allow MycoTechnology to further capitalize on its proprietary fermentation platform, continuing to impact food and nutrition around the world. The company is now positioned to bring its unique product portfolio to even more consumers globally, with a focus on expanding in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

The Series E round was led by a group affiliated with the Oman Investment Authority (OIA), a sovereign wealth fund and first-time investor in the business. Their sights are set on major collaborations around food security and sustainability. In addition to OIA, the Series E funding round attracted several new investors, including Nourish Ventures (Griffith Foods' venture capital group), Rage Capital, Alphacy Investment, and Siddhi Capital. Also contributing were returning investors S2G Ventures, Tyson Ventures, Continental Grain Company, Bunge Ventures, Maple Leaf Foods, Evolution VC Partners, and Gaingels.

Please read the full article here.

Source: CISION PR Newwire, news provided by MycoTechnology, Inc

Oakfield Champignons BV wants to grow exotic mushrooms as sustainably and circularly as possible. This starts at CNC Grondstoffen where the substrate is produced and ends at a cow shed where the residual flows are used as bedding.

Exotic mushrooms are increasingly appearing on retail shelves. For example, Albert Heijn has included king oyster mushrooms from mushroom grower Oakfield Champignons in its range.

The process from the formation of the substrate to the harvest of the mushrooms can be seen in below video (in Dutch).

Original Dutch article

Oakfield en CNC vinden duurzame route in exotische paddenstoelen

Oakfield Champignons BV wil de kweek van exotische paddenstoelen zo duurzaam en circulair mogelijk uitvoeren. Dat begint bij CNC Grondstoffen waar het substraat wordt geproduceerd en eindigt bij een koeienstal waar de reststromen als bedding worden gebruikt.

Exotische paddenstoelen duiken steeds vaker op in de schappen van de retail. Zo heeft Albert Heijn koningsoesterzwammen van paddenstoelenkweker Oakfield Champignons opgenomen in het assortiment.

Het proces vanaf de vorming van het substraat tot de oogst van de paddenstoelen is te zien in deze video.

Source: ‘Food & Agribusiness/Misset Doetinchem’.

If there is one thing that excites Josh Peitzman, it’s the promise of rain.

A saturated forest floor is a fungal breeding ground, and Peitzman, 24, spends much of his free time post-rain on the hunt for mushrooms to identify. It’s become second nature for him to walk through Granger's Jester Park, eyes on the ground or in the nooks and crannies of trees, in search of something new to discover.

For a time, this hobby — which began five years ago — was just that. The self-taught mycologist foraged and identified, learned the taxonomic names of the species he’d uncover and eventually started tinkering with mushroom grow kits and still air boxes. Soon, however, he began picturing a future beyond his dishwashing job at Wasabi in Ankeny — a future in which he’d cultivate his own mushroom farm and fulfill a longstanding dream of following in his grandfather’s farming footsteps.

That mushroom farm, Fungi Fresh Farms, is now a reality. With support from investor-turned-business partner Jerrod Appenzeller, Peitzman is determined to grow the largest gourmet mushroom farm in central Iowa in a renovated shipping container in Grimes. Just months into production, Peitzman and Appenzeller are harvesting 50 to 100 pounds of specialty mushrooms per week for local farmers markets, restaurants and CSAs (community supported agriculture farm operations), but the two say it is just the start.

Please read the full article here.

Source: Des Moines Register

A fungi expert investigates

Nearly all of Earth’s organisms communicate with each other in one way or another, from the nods and dances and squeaks and bellows of animals, through to the invisible chemical signals emitted by plant leaves and roots. But what about fungi? Are mushrooms as inanimate as they seem – or is something more exciting going on beneath the surface?

New research by computer scientist Andrew Adamatzky at the Unconventional Computing Laboratory of the University of the West of England, suggests this ancient kingdom has an electrical “language” all of its own – far more complicated than anyone previously thought. According to the study, fungi might even use “words” to form “sentences” to communicate with neighbours.

Almost all communication within and between multi-cellular animals involves highly specialised cells called nerves (or neurones). These transmit messages from one part of an organism to another via a connected network called a nervous system. The “language” of the nervous system comprises distinctive patterns of spikes of electrical potential (otherwise known as impulses), which help creatures detect and respond rapidly to what’s going on in their environment.

Despite lacking a nervous system, fungi seem to transmit information using electrical impulses across thread-like filaments called hyphae. The filaments form a thin web called a mycelium that links fungal colonies within the soil. These networks are remarkably similar to animal nervous systems. By measuring the frequency and intensity of the impulses, it may be possible to unpick and understand the languages used to communicate within and between organisms across the kingdoms of life.

Using tiny electrodes, Adamatzky recorded the rhythmic electrical impulses transmitted across the mycelium of four different species of fungi.

He found that the impulses varied by amplitude, frequency and duration. By drawing mathematical comparisons between the patterns of these impulses with those more typically associated with human speech, Adamatzky suggests they form the basis of a fungal language comprising up to 50 words organised into sentences. The complexity of the languages used by the different species of fungi appeared to differ, with the split gill fungus (Schizophyllum commune) using the most complicated lexicon of those tested.

The split gill fungus is common in rotting wood and is reported to have more than 28,000 sexes.
Bernard Spragg/Wikipedia

This raises the possibility that fungi have their own electrical language to share specific information about food and other resources nearby, or potential sources of danger and damage, between themselves or even with more distantly connected partners.

Underground communication networks

This isn’t the first evidence of fungal mycelia transmitting information.

Mycorrhizal fungi – near-invisible thread-like fungi that form intimate partnerships with plant roots – have extensive networks in the soil that connect neighbouring plants. Through these associations, plants usually gain access to nutrients and moisture supplied by the fungi from the tiniest of pores within the soil. This vastly expands the area that plants can draw sustenance from and boosts their tolerance of drought. In return, the plant transfers sugars and fatty acids to the fungi, meaning both benefit from the relationship.

The mycelium of mycorrhizal fungi enable symbiotic relationships with plants.
KYTan/Shutterstock

Experiments using plants connected only by mycorrhizal fungi have shown that when one plant within the network is attacked by insects, the defence responses of neighbouring plants activate too. It seems that warning signals are transmitted via the fungal network.

Other research has shown that plants can transmit more than just information across these fungal threads. In some studies, it appears that plants, including trees, can transfer carbon-based compounds such as sugars to neighbours. These transfers of carbon from one plant to another via fungal mycelia could be particularly helpful in supporting seedlings as they establish. This is especially the case when those seedlings are shaded by other plants and so limited in their abilities to photosynthesise and fix carbon for themselves.

Exactly how these underground signals are transmitted remains a matter of some debate though. It is possible the fungal connections carry chemical signals from one plant to another within the hyphae themselves, in a similar way to how the electrical signals featured in the new research are transmitted. But it is also possible that signals become dissolved in a film of water held in place and moved across the network by surface tension. Alternatively, other microorganisms could be involved. Bacteria in and around fungal hyphae might change the composition of their communities or function in response to changing root or fungal chemistry and induce a response in neighbouring fungi and plants.

The new research showing transmission of language-like electrical impulses directly along fungal hyphae provides new clues about how messages are conveyed by fungal mycelium.

Mushroom for debate?

Although interpreting the electrical spiking in fungal mycelia as a language is appealing, there are alternative ways to look at the new findings.

The rhythm of electrical pulses bears some similarity to how nutrients flow along fungal hyphae, and so may reflect processes within fungal cells that are not directly related to communication. The rhythmic pulses of nutrients and electricity may reveal the patterns of fungal growth as the organism explores its surroundings for nutrients.

Of course, the possibility remains that the electrical signals do not represent communication in any form at all. Rather, charged hyphal tips passing the electrode could have generated the spikes in activity observed in the study.

What on Earth are they talking about?
Katie Field, Author provided

More research is clearly needed before we can say with any certainty what the electrical impulses detected in this study mean. What we can take from the research is that electrical spikes are, potentially, a new mechanism for transmitting information across fungal mycelia, with important implications for our understanding of the role and significance of fungi in ecosystems.

These results could represent the first insights into fungal intelligence, even consciousness. That’s a very big “could”, but depending on the definitions involved, the possibility remains, though it would seem to exist on time scales, frequencies and magnitudes not easily perceived by humans.

Katie Field, Professor in Plant-Soil Processes, University of Sheffield

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Picking mushrooms is more than just removing them from the beds. The handling and picking the right mushrooms is vital. Creating space to allow them to grow bigger is not only for yield. A mushroom with enough space has better evaporation and will hold the quality better, longer and will have a better shelf life as well. Handling of mushrooms can affect quality and shelf life.

Are you planning, building or equipping a professional mushroom growing farm? At each of these stages, most investors are looking for answers to the question: whether to look for a general contractor who will take care of the whole investment or whether there is such a scope of this investment, where it’s worth finding an expert in a narrow area.

Why do we look for a general contractor?

The undoubted advantage of choosing a comprehensive contractor who will advise, build and equip the mushroom growing farm with all the necessary elements for the production of mushrooms is saving time and some ease in communication. You don’t need to test a dozen or so subcontractors, but establish good cooperation with only one. The trust that will appear along with the subsequent stages of a properly executed investment will give you peace of mind and space to plan the next steps, such as employment, logistics, sales and marketing. Fewer worries and more time. However, the most important benefit resulting from the choice of a single contractor is usually considered to be the savings obtained by buying everything in one place. After all, it has been known for a long time that by buying a package of services or materials “potentially” we should get lower rates and prices.

On the other hand, probably each of us has heard the saying that if someone declares that he is good at everything, then most often in practice it turns out that some areas of the offer are implemented averagely or even very poorly. Numerous owners of mushroom growing farms will confirm that they encountered or heard about such problems during the implementation of the investment.

In what cases is it worth looking for better solutions?

The key to achieving the high profitability of a thriving mushroom growing farm is to understand what affects the long-term viability of the business and that the devil is in the details. Despite the enormous automation, the largest costs of maintaining leading mushroom growing farms in 2022 are still the employment costs, and even achieving a significant saving on materials for the construction of the facility can only be apparent and will not compensate for the losses sustained in the long term due to the lack of selection of the optimal solutions, which can translate into lower employment costs, higher harvesting efficiency and, consequently, high profitability of the entire mushroom growing farm.

So what is worth paying attention to?

In the beginning, it is worth deepening the knowledge about the equipment for mushroom growing farms that is available on the market. Understanding the principle of operation, the purposefulness of the materials and technologies used will allow us to assess whether and which products available on the market will give us an advantage and facilitate long-term profitability. At the investment planning stage, it’s worth already delving into such products and areas as:

● shelving for mushrooms
● growing nets
● mushroom picking trolleys
● watering systems
● growing tunnel covers (in case of tunnel-like structure)
● lighting
● climate control

Each of the above elements is offered on the market in the form of products based on different quality and methods of execution (materials, technologies, construction, functions, etc.).
Let's use growing nets as the first example. The use of lower-quality materials can most often be noticed after the net becomes narrower after a few months of use and, as a consequence, the compost falls off its edges during transport. In such a case, a frequent and inevitable scenario is a net breakage, which leads to the need to stop loading, collect the substrate and replace the net. In our experience, the weakest nets break down after just a few months, and solid, good-quality products can last 10 or even 15 years.

Another example is the mushroom picking trolleys, the design and functionality of which significantly affect the long-term efficiency of harvesting. Machines based on poor quality materials are less durable and require frequent servicing, and when the mushroom picking trolley is not working, the employee's productivity drops dramatically. One of the most important factors affecting the efficiency of the trolley is the time of continuous operation (of the drive of the trolley) between the battery charging processes. Trolleys that run continuously for up to 30 hours or more are a much more cost-effective solution than devices that run for a maximum of 8, 10 or 15 hours. It’s also worth paying attention to the possibility of picking mushrooms from the bottom shelf. This is what most producers declare, but in practice, only some of the devices on the market allow for such picking in an easy way (they have an adequate amount of free access space for the 1st shelf and thus a very low platform placement, which makes the picking easy).

Summary

From our experience, a comprehensive (general) contractor in the mushroom growing industry often focuses on what the customer cares about - the lowest price. Very often, he provides a complete set of solutions, from the construction to the equipment of the mushroom growing farm, and the client accepts them based on trust and apparent savings. However, the cheap construction and equipment of the mushroom growing farm don’t mean long-term profitability for the business.

The profitability of a mushroom growing farm strictly depends on the solutions used in it and if a comprehensive contractor doesn’t offer solutions that are the most profitable (it’s difficult to specialize in every area), the only optimal way is to establish cooperation with a supplier who offers such solutions.

About the author:
GROWTIME is an international manufacturer of mushroom growing farm equipment.
GROWTIME specializes in the production of mushroom picking trolleys, with the focus on increasing the harvesting efficiency thanks to the solutions used in them. See the company's offer at growtime.eu.

In a recent study titled ‘Reactive fungal wearable‘, researchers explore the use of fungi as a potential candidate to produce sustainable textiles that can be used as eco-friendly bio wearables, for instance, the processors in tech wearables like Fitbits could be replaced by incorporating mushroom mycelium.

The joint research venture undertaken by the University of the West of England, Bristol, the U.K. (UWE Bristol) and collaborators from Mogu S.r.l., Italy, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Torino, Italy and the Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) has assessed the sensing potential of fungal wearables.

The researchers of the study conducted several laboratory experiments on the electrical response of a hemp fabric captured by oyster fungi by attaching it to computer sensors and stimulating it with attractants and repellents.

Wearable devices require complex and sophisticated circuits that connect to sensors having at least some computing power, thus making them ‘smart’.

Oyster mushroom mycelium, the fibrous mainframe tissues of fungi that populate under the soil and from which mushrooms sprout was able to perceive several external stimuli like light, temperature, and moisture, as well as certain chemicals in the environment, and even electrical signals in a way that imitates the same function for sensors and processors.

To explain this concept further, we use an example of a heart rate monitor, and using the study’s findings, the mushroom’s perceptions of the environment would become the data that gives you the beats-per-minute count on this device.

Please read the full article here.
Source: Green Queen

Lead image – Experimental setup, courtesy of ‘Reactive fungal wearable’ study.