Spawn Production Technology
H. Equipments Required
The equipment required in a spawn laboratory (Fig. 5.9) are:
1. Boiling pans/boiling kettle (vessel) for boiling the grains. Kettle can also be used if baby boiler is available otherwise kettles working on electricity, kerosene or gas can be installed. Pans for preparation of medium are also required.
2. Stove or steam line for boiling of wheat grains and preparation of medium.
3. pH meter to check pH of the medium.
4. Autoclave for sterilization of spawn medium and oven for sterilization glassware.
Two electrically operated autoclaves with 100-145 bottle capacity having a dia. of 2 ½' and 3 ¼' height are sufficient. If boiler is available steam operated autoclaves can be used for better efficiency. A small clinical autoclave can also be kept for sterilization of culture medium.
5. BOD incubator is needed to incubate cultures and master cultures.
6. Laminar flow cabinet (normally 4 ft. horizontal) is needed for isolation and multiplication of cultures and spawn inoculation.
Fig. 5.9. Equipments for spawn laboratory (a) boiling kettel, (b) autoclave, (c) laminar flow and (d) BOD incubator
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
7. Refrigerator is needed for short-term preservation of mycelial cultures.
8. Other items like glassware, chemicals for medium preparation, non-absorbent cotton, polypropylene bags (or bottles), disinfectant (formaldehyde), calcium carbonate, calcium sulphate are also required.
9. Steel racks in incubation room and cold storage for keeping bags/bottles, exhaust fans, filters, office table, working tables, troughs, sieves, inoculating needles, scalpels, test tubes, petri plates etc. are also required.
10. AHUs can be installed for creating positive pressure by filtered air. Similarly air curtains are desirable to keep aseptic conditions in the lab.
I. Economics
Economics of establishing a spawn laboratory for production and sale of at least 1,00,000 kg spawn per annum is given below:
1. Fixed cost Cost (Rupees)
a Land procurement and development (300 m2) Available b Cost of construction:
i) Cost of construction of 152 m2 area @ Rs. 8000/- per m2 12,16,000.00 ii) Cost of insulation of incubation room and cold store 1,25,000.00 (250 m2) @ Rs. 500/- m2)
Total: Rs. 13,41,000.00
c Cost of machinery
i) Cost of 4 ACs of 1.5 ton capacity 2,00,000
ii) Cost of other equipments
Autoclave (2 no.) 8,00,000.00
Laminar flow 1,50,000.00
BOD Incubator 75,000.00
Refrigerator 10,000.00
pH meter 5,000.00
Gas stove 3,000.00
Weighing balance 2,000.00
Iron racks 1,00,000.00
Total Rs. 11,45,000.00
2. Recurring expenditure
a Salary
Labour (2 No.) @ Rs. 3000/- month/person 72,000.00 Technical Assistant (1 No.) @ Rs. 6000/- month/person 72,000.00
Total Rs. 1,44,000.00
b Raw materials
i) Cost of wheat/sorghum/pearl millet grains (600 q) @ 7,50,000.00 Rs. 1500/q (Considering 1.8 kg spawn/kg wheat
and 5-10% contamination)
41 Spawn Production
ii) Cost of calcium carbonate (3 q) and calcium sulphate (10 q) 65,000.00 @ 5000/q
iii) Cost of non-absorbent cotton 10 q @ Rs. 6500/q 65,000.00
iv) Cost of rings 25,000.00
v) Cost of 7 quintal of polypropylene bags @ Rs. 6500/q 4,500.00
vi) Energy consumption/year 2,00,000.00
vii) Miscellaneous (cost of disinfectants, gloves etc.) 1,00,000.00
Total Rs. 12,50.500.00
Total recurring expenditure = Rs. 13,94,500.00 3. Interest and depreciation
1. On Building (Rs.13,41,000) (5% depreciation and 2,27,970.00 Interest @ 12% )
2. On machinery (Rs.11,45,000.00) 2,51,900.00
(10% depreciation and 12% Interest)
Total Rs. 4,79,870.00
4. Cost of production and return
a Raw materials 12,50,500.00
b Wages and salary 1,44,000.00
c Interest and depreciation 4,79,870.00
Total Rs.18,74,370.00
5. Return
a Income from sale of 1 lakh spawn bags @ Rs. 50/kg 50,00,000.00 Net profit per year Rs. (50,00,000 -18,74,370) = Rs. 31,25,630.00 J. Mushroom Spawn Standards
No spawn standards as such have been set out in our country. However based on the research the following standards appears reasonable.
Pure culture can be equated to nucleus seed, master spawn to breeder seed and commercial spawn to foundation seed.
1. Pure culture (Nucleus seed)
a The culture should be genetically pure and true to type.
b Culture should be obtained from Research organization or authentic source.
c Free from any kind of fungal and viral contamination.
d Culture should be maintained on compost extract agar medium.
e Culture should indicate specific growth rate on defined medium and at defined temperature.
f Visually the culture should be strandy and off white in colour in Agaricus, pure white and thick fluffy growth in Pleurotus, cottony fluffy with brown sclerotia (after 12-15 days) in Volvariella, pure white, dense, thick and fluffy growth in Calocybe indica and pure white later on turning to light brown pigmentation in Lentinula edodes.
g Culture should be stored at 4-60C for Agaricus, Pleurotus and Lentinula and between 18-220C in Volvariella and Calocybe indica.
h The incubation temperature should be between 32±2°C for Volvariella and Calocybe indica and 250C for Agaricus, Pleurotus and Lentinula.
2. Master spawn (Breeder seed)
a Breeder seed should always be prepared from pure culture.
b Free from any kind of contamination.
c It should be multiplied on wheat, jowar, bajra or barley grains.
d Breeder seed should be incubated at 25±20C for Agaricus, Pleurotus, Lentinula and 32±20C for Calocybe indica and Volvariella.
e The master spawn should be stored at 4-60C for 40-45 days in Agaricus, Pleurotus, Lentinula and 18-200C days in Calocybe indica and Volvariella for maximum 30-40 days.
f It should be produced in autoclavable transparent glass bottles 3. Commercial spawn (Foundation seed/Certified spawn)
a The incubation temperature should be 25±20C for Agaricus, Pluerotus, Lentinula and 32±20C for Volvariella and Calocybe indica.
b Spawn should always be prepared from master spawn (Breeder seed).
c Free from any kind of contamination.
d It should be multiplied on wheat, jowar, bajra or barley grains.
e Spawn should not be older than 60 days in Agaricus, 30-45 days in Pleurotus, Lentinula and 30-40 days in Calocybe indica and Volvariella.
f Certified spawn should be stored at 4-60C in Agaricus, Pleurotus and Lentinula and 18-200C in Calocybe indica and Volvariella.
g The bag should indicate lot no., date of inoculation, variety/strain and quantity.
h For every new lot of commercial seed (foundation seed), fresh master spawn (breeder seed) should be used. Commercial spawn may not be used for further multiplication of seeds as it may lead to higher contamination and decline in yield.
Further Readings
1. Chang, S.T. and Hayes, W.A. 1978. The biology and cultivation of edible mushrooms. Academic Press, New York. pp. 819.
2. Quimio, T.H., Chang, S.T. and Royse, D.J. 1990. Technical guidelines for mushroom growing in tropics. FAO, Rome. pp. 153.
3. Rai, R.D., Upadhyay, R.C. and Sharma, S.R. 2005. Frontiers in mushroom biotechnology. NRCM, Solan. pp. 430.