DOI: 10.4025/actasciagron.v30i4.

5309

Cultivation of Agaricus blazei in the environmental protection area

of the Baturité region under three types of casing soils
José Luis Rocha Cavalcante1, Vânia Felipe Freire Gomes1, João Kopytowski Filho2,
Marli Teixeira de Almeida Minhoni2 and Meire Cristina Nogueira de Andrade3*
1
Universidade Federal do Ceará, Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil. 2Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
3
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Av. André Araújo, 2936, 69060-001, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. *Author for
correspondence. E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT. The outdoor cultivation (ditches) of Agaricus blazei was evaluated in the
protected natural area (APA) of the mountainous region of Baturité on three types of casing
soils (A, B and C). Casing soil A (horizon A) of the local soil was used (Alfisol). Casing B
was obtained with a mixture of 30% of eucalyptus charcoal (1-2 cm of length) and 70% of
horizon B of the local soil. Casing C was composed of 25% of vermiculite, 25% of coconut
fiber and 50% of coarse sand. Temperature, relative humidity and pluviometric rates were
monitored. The physical-chemical properties of the three casing soils were analyzed. The
effect of the casing soil on the number and weight of the mushrooms, productivity, yield
and biological efficiency of A. blazei were evaluated. The yield, productivity, biological
efficiency and number of mushrooms were higher when using soil A. The highest
productivity for soil A was attributed mainly to the physical characteristics, which were
considered more appropriate for the cultivation, in addition to the high pluviometric rates
and relative humidity. The productivity with soil A (9.62%) is comparable with the average
productivity obtained in Brazil, meaning that the cultivation of A. blazei in this APA may
have good perspectives for cultivation.
Key words: Agaricus blazei, outdoor cultivation, casing soil, medicinal mushroom.

RESUMO. Cultivo de Agaricus blazei, na área de proteção ambiental da região de

Baturité, em três tipos de camada de cobertura. Foi avaliada a possibilidade de cultivo
em ambiente desprotegido (campo), do cogumelo Agaricus blazei, na área de Proteção
Ambiental (APA), da região montanhosa de Baturité (CE), com o uso de três tipos de
camada de cobertura (A, B e C). A camada de cobertura A foi composta de horizonte A de
um solo local (Alfisol). A camada de cobertura B foi obtida pela da mistura de 30% de carvão
de eucalipto (fragmentos com 1-2 cm) com 70% de horizonte B do mesmo solo local. Já, a
camada C foi composta de 25% de vermiculita, 25% de fibra de coco e 50% de areia de
construção. A temperatura, umidade relativa do ar e índice pluviométrico foram
monitorados e as propriedades físico-químicas das três camadas de coberturas foram
analisadas, bem como os seus efeitos relacionados ao número e massa fresca de cogumelos,
eficiência biológica, produtividade e produção de A. blazei. A produtividade, produção,
eficência biológica e número de cogumelos foram mais elevadas na camada A, em relação às
camadas B e C. Os valores mais elevados obtidos pela camada A foram atribuídos às suas
características físico-químicas consideradas mais apropridadas ao cultivo, apesar das
condições de elevados índices pluviométrico e umidade relativa do ar. A produtividade da
camada A (9,62%) demonstrou-se compatível com a média de produtividade obtida no
Brasil, tendo boas perspectivas de cultivo deste cogumelo nesta APA.
Palavras-chave: Agaricus blazei, cultivo desprotegido, camada de cobertura, cogumelo medicinal.

Introdution
Introdution nations. Commercialization prices, low investment
The mushroom Agaricus blazei is found in Brazil. costs, and fast return of invested capital make its
This species has been the subject of scientific cultivation financially attractive (Reichardt, 1990;
research which has shown its important nutritional Eira and Braga, 1997; Braga et al., 1998; Minhoni
and medicinal properties. Therefore, there has been et al., 2005). The production of this mushroom has
an increase in its demand from consumers and the promising ecological aspects. Firstly, compost made
pharmaceutical industry, mainly in developed of agricultural and agro-processing wastes is used as

Acta Sci. Agron. Maringá, v. 30, n. 4, p. 513-517, 2008

514 Cavalcante et al.

substrate (Quimio et al., 1990; Kopytowski Filho, Soil B: Obtained from horizon B (100 cm deep).
2002). The differences as of mycelial growth amidst Fragments of charcoal (0.5 to 1.5 cm) and calcium
fungi strains already have been reported by a great carbonate at the ratio of 10:3:0.1 v v-1 v-1 were added.
many authors (Andrade and Graciolli, 2005; Soil C: Coarse sand, coconut fiber, vermiculite,
Andrade et al., 2007). Otherwise, the spent substrate, and calcium carbonate at a ratio of: 20:10:10:0.3
chemically and physically enriched, can be used to v v-1 v-1 v-1. The fiber (mesocarp) was acquired from
protect the soil from erosion or as a fertilizer the coconut industry, rinsed and dried. Soil C was
(Vedder, 1986). disinfected with formalin: 1 L for 9 L of water per
In social terms, it creates jobs, settling families cubic meter of casing soil.
down to the land and, as it demands a small
cultivation area, it is well adapted to the agricultural Physical-
Physical-chemical characterization of the casing soils
model of the area of Baturité (Ceará state), which is The analyses were carried out according to the
based on small farms. methodology adopted by Embrapa (Ferreira, 1996). The
All these factors, as well as the environmental analyses of the casing soils are presented in Table 1.
characteristics of the mountainous region of
Baturité, make A. blazei cultivation an alternative to Table 1. Physical-chemical characterization of the casing soils.
promote the area socially, economically and Determination Casing Soils
ecologically according to the restrictions for land A* B* C*
usage imposed by the protected natural area (APA). Total Sand (g kg-1) 646 530 847
Silt (g kg-1) 167 250 86
Regional alternatives utilized as casing soil constitute Clay (g kg-1) 187 220 67
important factors for the crop success. Yet Water dispersed clay (g kg )-1
47 127 34
Textural Classification sandy loam sandy clay loam loamy sand
transportation of great amount of material makes -1
Flocculation degree (g 100 g ) 75 42 50
them unfeasible. Global Density (g cm-3) 1.32 1.19 1.41
The objective of this research was to evaluate the Moisture at 0.033 MPa 14.9 23.5 7.0
Moisture at 1.5 MPa 10.2 12.0 2.9
effects of three types of casing soils on the number, Useful Water (g 100 g-1) 4.7 11.5 4.1
fresh weight, productivity, yield and biological pH - in Water (1: 2.5)
-1
7.9 7.8 8.4
EC (dS m ) 0.89 1.06 1.14
efficiency of A. blazei. 2+
Ca (cmol .kg ) -1
23.4 23.1 22.6
Mg2+ (cmol .kg-1) 1.3 1.7 1.7
+ -1
K (cmol kg ) 0.24 0.46 0.27
Material and methods +
Na (cmol kg ) -1
0.23 0.37 0.35
Al+3 (cmol.kg-1) 0.0 0.0 0.0
The experiment was carried out from January to CEC (cmol .kg-1) 25.2 25.6 24.8
March 2003, in Guaramiranga (CE), Brazil (4°16’55”S C (g kg-1) 16.90 10.48 3.46
and 38°55’23”W). The area is 850 m above sea level OM (g kg-1) 27.14 18.07 5.97
Assimilable P (mg kg-1) 1 3 1
and, according to Köeppen, the predominant climate is Zn (mg kg ) -1
6.2 0.3 0.2
-1
Aw (warm and wet), with annual precipitation varying Mn (mg kg ) 1.9 1.0 1.0
Fe (mg kg-1) 24.3 0.6 0.7
from 1,000 to 1,500 mm. Cu (mg kg ) -1
0.5 0.1 0.2
*n = 3. EC = electrical conductivity, CEC = cationic exchange capacity and
Compost OM = organic matter.

The compost was supplied by the company Cultivation

Blazei Nordeste Ltda., with an initial C/N ratio of Cultivation took place in a bordering area of
25/1 and 63.8% moisture at spawning.
native forest, measuring 6.8 x 5.1 m, at a 6.5% slope.
Spawning and Colonization Five parallel beds (4.8 m long, 0.40 m wide and 0.20
Strain BZ-04 (BRASMICEL/SP) was added to the m deep) were installed along the slope. Each 1.6
compost (15 g kg-1 of fresh compost) and placed in lineal meter of bed constituted an experimental unit
plastic bags (11.5 kg of fresh compost). Spawn run with 57.2 kg of compost and casing soil 5.5 cm in
(colonization) was carried out for 20 days at 26-28ºC. depth. Thirty centimeters of dried grass (Melinus
minutiflora) were used to protect against dryness.
Casing Soils
Harvesting
Three types of casing soil were elaborated mainly
with local materials. Harvesting was performed manually when the
Soil A: Horizon A (0 to 15 cm deep) of the local mushrooms reached 70% cap opening. Residues of
soil was used (Yellow-Red Argissoil). Calcium soil and substrates were removed from the stipe
carbonate was added at the ratio of 13:0.1 v v-1. with a knife (Reichardt, 1990).

Acta Sci. Agron. Maringá, v. 30, n. 4, p. 513-517, 2008

Cultivation of Agaricus blazei 515

Evaluated parameters Evaluation of the casing soils in mushroom number, fresh

weight, yield, productivity and biological efficiency of
The following variables were appraised: number Agaricus blazei
of mushrooms, yield, productivity and biological
The results of the Tukey test evidenced that the
efficiency. Productivity (P) was expressed as fresh averages of all the variables of soil A were
weight of mushrooms/fresh weight of compost x significantly higher. This was also observed in Soil
100. Yield (Y) was expressed as fresh weight of C for the number of mushrooms, and in soil B for
mushrooms m-2. Biological Efficiency (BE) was the average weight of the mushrooms, as it can be
expressed as fresh weight of mushrooms/dry weight observed in Table 2.
of compost x 100.
Physical properties
Statistical design Bononi et al. (2001) describe the desirable
The treatments were randomly disposed in five granulometric composition with contents from 27
repetitions. Analyses of variance were performed to 43% of total sand, 11 to 22% of silt and 49 to 55%
and mean separation carried out by Tukey test (5%) of clay. According to the data presented in Table 1,
(Flegg et al., 1985). Soil A has 64.7, 16.7 and 18.7% of total sand, silt and
clay respectively. Soil B has 53, 25 and 22%, and Soil
Results
Results and discussion C shows 84.7, 8.7 and 6.7%. In relation to the total
sand, all the investigated soils surpassed the values
Climatic Monitoring mentioned by Bononi et al. (2001), mainly Soil C.
A precipitation of 969 mm was observed during the For silt contents, only soil A matched the
cropping period. The values of temperature (°C) and recommendation. For clay contents, none matched
relative humidity (%) are observed in Figures 1 and 2. the recommended minimum values. For soils A and
B, the textural classification was sandy loam and
35
sandy clay loam, respectively, closer to the condition
of a desirable medium texture (Embrapa, 1997). The
30
clay values found in A and B, still taking into
25 account the data of Table 1, were higher than the
Temperature (ºC)

20
ones found in soil C, reinforcing the possible
superiority of the first two soils, for better potential
15 Temperature in water retention. However, the granulometric
10 Minimum Máximum composition, in spite of some indications, does not
-- -- --Recomended allow us to trace a qualitative profile of the three
5
investigated soils for A. blazei cultivation.
0 In relation to the contents of natural clay, there is
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 a superior condition for soil A before B, because,
Cropping period-(days)
although relatively close, soil A shows a presence of
natural clay almost three times lower than B. In soil
Figure 1. Maximum and minimum temperatures at cropping.
C, the lowest amount of clay in its granulometric
constitution explains the proportionality and the low
100 contents of natural clay. The flocculation degree
presents direct relationship with the stability and, as
90
it takes into account the total clay for its calculation,
Relative Humidity (%)

80
supplies an idea about the stability of the soils
investigated than the contents of natural clay
70
previously analyzed. Therefore, the values 75, 42
60
and 50%, respecttively for soils A, B and C, do
confirm the superiorrity of soil A in terms of
Mínimum Máximum
50
---- Recomended
stability in relation to the other two. As for the
40
pluviometric data in the cultivation period, this
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 characteristic was certainly important for soil A not
Cropping period (days)
suffering serious structural damages, a desirable
condition (Gier, 2000; Bononi et al., 2001) which
Figure 2. Maximum relative air humidity at cropping. had higher production and productivity possible.

Acta Sci. Agron. Maringá, v. 30, n. 4, p. 513-517, 2008

516 Cavalcante et al.

The condition of similar stability in the other two did not present significant differences between their
soils is consistent with the results of the averages of mean numbers.
the analyzed variables (Table 2), indicating
proximity in the values, though only fresh weight of Chemical properties
properties
mushrooms is differing statistically. The pH of the three soils ranged from 7.8 to 8.4.
It is known that the density of the soil affects the The pH recommendation for casing soil A. blazei is 7.0
porosity and this porosity proportionally influences and 7.5 (Bononi et al., 2001). In case of a higher dose of
the capacity of water retention, pH, electric limestone added, it does not cause negative influences,
conductivity and organic matter of the casing soil. because of soil buffering. Therefore, while being
All these factors together determine the quality and within the acceptable pH range parameters or relatively
the usefulness of the casing soils. The analyses of the close to them, one cannot credit a significant influence
physical-chemical properties (Table 1) show that in the averages of the analyzed variables.
soils A, B and C presented densities of 1.32, 1.19 There is an inversely proportional relation between
and 1.41 g cm-3, respectively. the number of primordium and electric conductivity.
Electric conductivity over 7 dS m-1 has a negative
Table 2. Averages of the variables in function of the casing soils influence in the quality and, especially, in the amount
(A, B and C). of produced mushrooms; some negative symptoms
Averages can be noticed starting from 3 dS m-1. The values of
Casing Number of Fresh Yield Productivity Biological
Soil Mushrooms Weight (g) kg m-2 (%) Efficiency (%)
electric conductivity for the treatments A, B and C,
A 75.4 A 72.28 A 8.51 A 9.62 A 25.97 A were lower than the limiting values described by Gier
B 56.6 B 67.14 A 5.94 B 6.65 B 18.11 B (2000). As the values were relatively close, such as for
C 65.2 AB 57.01 B 5.82 B 6.51 B 17.73 B
*Means followed by the same lower case letter within a column do not differ
pH, it is unlikely that they had any influence in the
significantly (Tukey test, 5%). averages of the analyzed variables.
The presence of organic matter in the casing soil
Reichardt (1990) determined densities of sandy increases undesirable microorganisms in the
soils ranging between 1.4 to 1.8 g cm-3; however, the
composition, while the impacts of physical-chemical
texture of loamier, fine soils have arrangement
properties of the casing soil in the production of A.
possibilities of much larger particles, with their
bisporus, verified have in general, low levels of organic
porous space constituted essentially of a large
matter were related with low productions. This is
volume of micropores and, according to this author,
justified if the positive influences that the organic
presenting a little larger density interval ranging
matter exercises on the physical properties of the soil
from 0.9 to 1.6 g cm-3. This means that soil B,
are taken into account, in reference to density,
followed by A, presents a larger capacity of water
structures, consistence, water retention, aeration and
retention when compared with soil C.
drainage.
The capacity of water retention, a requirement
For the treatments A, B and C, the values for the
for a good casing soil, is directly related to the
organic matter were 27.14, 18.07 and 5.97 g kg-1,
weight of the mushrooms. This can explain why the
averages of soils A and B have differed significantly respectively. They can explain the superiority of soil A
from the average of soil C, for the weight averages of over the others, and also of soil B over C, regarding the
the mushrooms. physical properties previously analyzed, justifying the
The values found in the three treatments (Table best averages of production and productivity in the
2) demonstrate the superiority of soil B over the same order of the presence of organic matter.
other treatments in relation to the capacity of water Usually, there is not enough information about the
retention, confirming the analysis of the previous presence of macro and micronutrients in the casing
item and in agreement with Gier (2000) and Singh soil, neither about their effects in the production of
et al. (2000). On the other hand, the high mushrooms. Casing soil should have reduced contents
pluviometric rates observed, as well as the capacity of nutrients, as they might increase the population of
of water retention of the coal and the larger amounts undesirable microorganisms.
of clay present in soil B, favored an excess of water In the results referring to macronutrients, no
retention, occurring constant soaking and remarkable difference of content was verified between
committing the permeability and damaging the flow the treatments. Considering magnesium seen as a
of gases, fundamental to the induction of toxicant element by most authors (Gier, 2000), its
primordium (Gier, 2000) and, consequently, to levels were slightly lower in soil A comparative to B
form the mushrooms. This fact did not happen with and C, this could be a positive factor for the best yield.
the soils A and C, as they had better drainage and Iron, in its reduced form (Fe2+), is known for its

Acta Sci. Agron. Maringá, v. 30, n. 4, p. 513-517, 2008

Cultivation of Agaricus blazei 517

negative effect in fructification, however, when and fresh weight of mushrooms, when soil B had
oxidated (Fe3+), the opposite is observed (Singh et al., similar behavior to soil A.
2000). Iron, without distinction among the valance, as Outdoor cultivation in the city of Guaramiranga
well as zinc, copper and manganese, are stimulants to and its environmental conditions made it possible to
fructification, as they have a significant role in the induce A. blazei primordium, with productivity
elimination of quinone, which is a metabolite released around 6.51% (soil C) and 9.62% (soil A).
by the mycelium of A. bisporus that inhibits its Therefore, its cultivation is viable in the region.
fructification.
References
Biological properties
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probable that soil A was richer in biodiversity, followed ANDRADE, M.C.N.; GRACIOLLI, L.A. Controle de
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Conclusion
Soil A was significantly more productive than B Received on May 30, 2007.
and C, except for the number of mushrooms, as soil Accepted on December 12, 2007.
C presented the same performance as soils A and B,

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