Agrocybe aegerita is a delicious mushroom which was known in Ancient Greece and Rome. The species under natural conditions is met in Mediterranean countries as well as in the Middle and North Europe. The Agrocybe is cultivated mostly on wood or sawdust. Woods of poplar and willow are the best for cultivation of this mushroom, but logs of elm, ash-tree and elder can be useful substrate as well. The study determined the suitability of some substrates to A. aegerita cultivation. Beech, alder, oak, maple and birch sawdust and sawdust of apple-tree, pear- tree and cherry-tree were used in the experiment. Moreover substrates of rape, wheat, rye and barley straw were tested, too. The experiments showed that the yielding of A. aegerita differed significantly in relation to the kind of substrate. Beech sawdust proved to be the most suitable substrate for cultivation of this species.
Mushrooms are cultivated on a wide range of materials of organic origin. Textile industry wastes seem to be interesting in this regard. In experiment, mycelium growth of the following eight mushroom species: Pholiota nameko (Ito) Ito et Imai, Flammulina velutipes (Curt. ex Fr.) Sing., Lyophyllum ulmarium (Bull. ex Fr.) Kumm., Marasmius oreades (Bolt.: Fr.) Fr., Hericium erinaceus (Bull: Fr.) Pers., Agrocybe aegerita (Brig.) Sing., Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegl. and Ganoderma lucidum (Curt: Fr.) Karst. cultivated on alder sawdust, rye straw, hemp and flax shive substrates was investigated. Significant variability in mycelium growth was observed depending on the mushroom species and the type of the applied substrate. The best mycelium growth of the examined mushroom species was recorded on flax shive and alder sawdust. In the majority of the experimental mushroom species, the worst growth of mycelia was recorded on the hemp shive substrate.