How to choose a substrate processing technology

How to choose a substrate processing technology

If the enterprise productivity is not less than 7-8 tons of mushrooms per month, you can prepare substrate blocks using hydrothermal processing (moisture-heat treatment).

Benefits:

• small investments in new equipment
• ease of equipment maintenancу
• the method provides efficient substrate processing and does not require a high degree of technological control
• one hydrothermal cycle produces a small number of substrate, allowing to quickly resolve production issues for loading premises.

The disadvantages of this technique include:

• certain technological aspects of processing (under- or over- moisturized substrate, leading to defects and yield reduction)
• large amounts of water are used in the production, liquid waste that must be disposed of. For example, production of one ton of mushrooms per month requires at least 40 tons of water.
• limited quantity of substrate blocks treated per one cycle.

In case of enterprise growth and expansion and increase in product amount, processing technology has to be changed.

Currently, the most promising technology to treat large amounts of mushroom substrate for the enterprises is tunnel pasteurization of plant raw materials.

Initially, the tunnel construction costs are quite high, but they compensate for the expenses quickly.

• the price of your own substrate is lower than commercially available (sometimes by a third, due to the high transportation cost)
•  enterprise technologist can determine the substrate and nutritional supplements composition and choose raw materials and mycelium supplier, which will lead to higher yields.

• due to the optimal load of chambers during a period of highest market activity (and high prices) the company receives additional profit.

• the company can produce substrate blocks for sale, which also increases the production profitability.

It should be emphasized that company profitability depends to a large extent on the highly skilled technologist. Our company trains technologists for mushroom enterprises. Individual training and consulting is also possible. We also train other professionals such as operators and mushroom harvesters.

How to choose a cultivation system

For small businesses both single-zone and bizonal growing systems are possible.

However production of 5-7 tons of mushrooms per month using bizonal growing system requires at least three or four incubators. Also the common cultivation room often needs to be divided into two chambers. Yields when using this technology can be lower by 7-10% than those at a single-zone multi-chamber system (due to inability to maintain all microclimate parameters). Also the overall financial costs will be almost the same as in setting of six single-zone chambers.

Our experienced technologists will help you make the best decision in choosing your company’s best format.

We provide a full range of services for technological support of production processes, as well as the construction of new mushroom enterprises and re-equipment existing ones.