Mushrooms, loved for their versatility and delicious taste, rightly deserve the title of 'superfood'. Whether you prefer chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, shiitake or portobello, mushrooms offer a wealth of health benefits.

These nutritional powerhouses are not only tasty but also extremely healthy. With minimal calories, they provide an abundance of protein, fiber, potassium, B vitamins and selenium. These low-fat treats are not only beneficial for weight management, but also for the heart. Mushrooms also strengthen your resistance thanks to their dietary fiber content.

As a natural energy boost, mushrooms are rich in B vitamins. In addition, they play a crucial role in the production of vitamin D, which is important for strong bones, teeth, muscles and a well-functioning immune system.

Scientific research has shown that mushrooms also have neuroprotective effects. As such, they can play an important role in promoting brain health and even help prevent conditions such as Alzheimer's.

Mushrooms are therefore not just a superfood, but a true 'super... super... superfood'. By regularly adding mushrooms to your meals, you give a powerful boost to your overall health.

Abstract

Mushroom cultivation on common reed (Phragmites australis) substrates is a new research area. The yield distribution and nutrient changes in mushroom flushes were studied using a reed to cultivate golden oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus citrinopileatus).

The results showed that cultivating mushrooms on reed substrates resulted in different flushes of mushrooms. The biological efficiencies were found to be 69.10 % for three (FF) and 75.98 % for four (MF) flushes, respectively. Significant reductions in crude protein content (from 28.28 % to 18.35 %) were observed, while total sugar content increased from 24.86 % to 36.95 % from the first to fourth flushes under MF treatment. However, no significant differences in crude protein or total sugar were observed between FF-treated flushes. Calcium concentrations increased, while heavy metal concentrations were lower than the toxicity safety standards. In the cultivational room, inhomogeneous environmental conditions led to changes in the number of flushes, as well as altered nutrient quality and overall production when using the same substrate to cultivate the same type of mushroom.

Mushrooms are widely consumed around the world as a nutrient-dense food source with numerous health benefits. Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.) are particularly popular due to their high levels of fat-soluble vitamins and essential minerals, as well as their low sodium and fat content (Abou Fayssal et al., 2021). Oyster mushrooms are widely cultivated because they can grow on a variety of substrate materials, have a relatively short cultivation period, and a low production cost (Mahari et al., 2020a). Their growing popularity is due to their ease of cultivation, high yield potential, and medicinal and nutritional value (Chang, 2006).

Please read the full article here.

Source: ScienceDirect

Verbruggen Mushrooms

Due to the corona virus a lot of mushroom growers are not able to sell their mushrooms to restaurants, caterers and catering industry anymore. Especially the exotic mushrooms are heavily impacted due to the current global crisis. Preventing them from going to waste a few companies in the Netherlands developed quite some creative ways to save these mushrooms.

"Verbruggen paddestoelen", a Dutch oyster mushroom grower is active in multiple initiatives to save their mushrooms. In the Netherlands a lot of regional projects are coming to life to support the local companies and farmers in this process. These initiatives are called #supportyourlocals.

This initiative is assembling boxes of fresh food directly from the farmers, which people can buy and enjoy at home. Normally these products are not sold in this way, but strange times demands different kinds of thinking. Oyster mushrooms are getting more known to consumers in this way as well, which is ofcourse a very good thing.

It is also possible to buy the oyster mushrooms directly at Verbruggen. Next to this there is an app called "Too Good to Go" where consumers can save food from going to waste.
Now the mushrooms of Verbruggen are being offered via this platform too ♥.

With “Doubleganger and Zwam” sausage rolls, grower Mariëlle van Lieshout from Liessel in the Netherlands wants to encourage consumers to eat more oyster mushrooms. "There are many opportunities, but you have to see them and you have to be patient."

Van Lieshout from Liessel is a busy bee: she has her own oyster mushroom farm, develops innovative ideas for mushroom cultivation with Mobichamp and is a board member of the oyster mushroom association. For the latter, her main motivation is that she wants consumers to eat more oyster mushrooms. The association has a study club to learn from each other in the field of cultivation.

We are trying to develop new products, because only betting on the consumption of fresh oyster mushrooms is not enough. There are many opportunities, but you have to see them and you have to be patient.

RIJP
The entrepreneur has recently joined the RIJP platform developed by farmers, ZLTO and Geodan. The aim is that farm shops, caterers and retail can purchase a diverse package of regional products from farmers from the platform. Such a regional product is the “Doubleganger”, which Van Lieshout came up with together with regional product store 't Streeckhuys in Deurne the Netherlands. It is a hamburger in which half of the meat has been replaced by oyster mushrooms.

“With the Doubleganger belongs the slogan: the only male hamburger that your wife also wants to eat”
Mariëlle van Lieshout, Oyster Mushroom grower in Liessel in the Netherlands

The Doubleganger contains less fat, salt and calories and more fiber and taste than a regular hamburger and is a sustainable and healthy choice without consciously eating less meat," says Van Lieshout. 'We use the following slogan: the only male hamburger that your wife also wants to eat. That fits in nicely with that.

Wider range
All breeders who are members of the oyster mushroom association may market the Doubleganger. "We hope that we can reach a larger audience with a limited marketing budget," says the entrepreneur.

Van Lieshout also stood at the basis of the Zwam sausage roll, with a filling of half oyster mushrooms and half pork. 'An additional advantage is that you can store such products in the freezer for six months, while you can only sell oyster mushrooms fresh. With this, we hope to somewhat offset the peaks and troughs in sales in the future. "

Van Lieshout has also found a new destination for the stalk of oyster mushrooms, normally a residual product. The Eindhoven designer Doreen Westphal from Botanic Bites has been pioneering with tapas, saté and sausage from the stalk since 2016. In 2019 she came up with a variant on shoarma meat: Zwarma.

The grower also implements sustainability in other areas: the straw from the cultivation packages goes back on land as a soil improver and the nursery has 343 solar panels, good for a capacity of 100,000 watt-peak.

PlanetProof
The nursery is PlanetProof certified, but Van Lieshout is not interested in organic certification. 'The demand for organic oyster mushrooms is lower than the supply, so that makes little sense. But if that demand grows and I can get a biological substrate, I want to make the switch. " Most oyster mushrooms end up at retail companies in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and can be kept for around a week after purchase.

Companies sometimes offer the entrepreneur their coffee grounds to be processed into the substrate for oyster mushrooms. 'I want to think along with that, but then I also expect something in exchange , for example, that they will sell the Doubleganger or the Zwam sausage roll in their canteens. It must be beneficial for both parties. "

As a daughter of mushroom growers, Van Lieshout had a dream: the mushroom farm of the future. 'A mushroom can grow up to 4 percent per hour and therefore a picker has to make many decisions. With smart software I wanted to make harvesting easier and more automated. " It was not possible to get the financing for the own nursery, but the idea did not let her go.

Harvest guide
Together with two partners, Van Lieshout founded software company Advanced Mushroom Research in 2011. The Harvest Guide, developed by them, measures properties such as diameter, bulging of the hat and structure of the mushrooms above a growing bed. Colored lights on selected mushrooms then give picking advice to the picker.

At Koolen Champignons in Slootdorp there is a test setup of the Harvest Guide. With this the initiators hope to interest mushroom farms all over the world. 'The next step is robotization of the picking process. That is desperately needed, because it becomes more difficult to find and retain harvesting staff, "says Van Lieshout.

Source: Nieuwe Oogst
Picture: © Maartje van Berkel