Optimization of Culture Conditions for Mycelial Growth and Basidiocarp Production of Lentinus tigrinus (Bull.) Fr., A New Record of Domesticated Wild Edible Mushroom in the Philippines

Lentinus tigrinus (Bull.) Fr. is a wood-rotting mushroom usually found growing on fallen logs during the onset and the middle of the rainy season when moisture is abundant. To domesticate this wild edible species, the optimum culture conditions for its secondary mycelial growth and fruiting body performance, with special reference to the influence of nutritional (different indigenous culture media) and physical (pH, aeration, illumination and temperature) factors, were determined. Results of the study revealed that its secondary mycelia grew best on solid medium with coconut water gulaman (local crude agar) at a pH range of 7.0-8.0, incubated either sealed or unsealed, under both dark and room temperature (32 °C) conditions. Among the evaluated granular spawn materials, palay seeds (rice grain with husk) yielded a very luxuriant mycelial growth with the shortest incubation period of 5 d. The highest biological efficiency of 15.93% was significantly (p Key Words: basidiocarp, Lentinus tigrinus, Philippine wild mushrooms, secondary mycelia