• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.127-137
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• 2022

Effects of substrate bed interior environments on mushroom qualities were investigated in oyster mushroom cultivation facilities in which either Reversible Air-Circulation Fans (RACF) blowing air in two directions (upwards and downwards) or customary Convection Fans (CF) with air blowing only upwards were operated throughout the cultivation period. Two days before harvest, the deviation ranges of the bed interior temperature and relative humidity in the facility using RACF were in the ranges of 1.0-1.3℃ and 7.8-9.0% in the first growing cycle, and within 0.7-1.1℃ and 10.0-11.4% in the second cycle. In the facility using CF, the ranges of variation in the indoor environment parameters (5.8-6.4℃ and 21.3-23.1% in the first growing cycle, and 3.4-5.7℃ and 14.6-18.3% in the second growing cycle) were much enlarged compared to those associated with RACF. These results strongly indicate that RACF significantly enhances air uniformity. Some mushroom qualities differed between growing cycles. For instance RACF in the first cycle gave somewhat better qualities than CF, but some qualities, like pileus diameter and stipe length, were slightly lower than those described for CF in the second cycle when the cultivation substrate weakened. The observation that some qualities worsened under RACF conditions, despite better air uniformity during the growing cycle, revealed the possibility that downward wind may exert a non-negligible negative effect on mushroom growth. Therefore in the future, making wind measurements on the interior and exterior of substrate beds is necessary to obtain insights into their influences on mushroom qualities. The RACF operation manual needs to be edited to convey this necessity.