N. Klomklung*/**/***, S. C. Karunarathna*/**/***, E. Chukeatirote*/** &
K. D. Hyde*/**/***,

*Institute of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University,
Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand
**School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand
***Mushroom Research Foundation, 128 M.3 Ban Pa Deng T. Pa Pae, A. Mae Taeng, Chiang Mai 50150, Thailand

Klomklung N., Karunarathna S. C., Chukeatirote E., Hyde K. D. (2012) Domestication of wild strain of Pleurotus giganteus. – Sydowia 64 (1): 39–53.

Pleurotus giganteus has relatively large fruiting bodies and is a saprobe in heavily rotting underground wood in forests; it is collected and widely consumed in many tropical countries including Thailand. Alt-hough P. giganteus is a popular edible mushroom, it is not cultivated in Thailand or Sri Lanka as a commer-cial mushroom. Recently a method for the cultivation of P. giganteus at the experimental level using saw dust as a substrate has been developed. The strain was isolated from a fresh fruiting body of P. giganteus (MFLU10 0154) using a piece of cap tissue and cultivated on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA). Spawn was grown in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) seeds. The cultivation method involves two steps, inoculating on a saw dust substrate in polypropylene bags as the preliminary step and transferring to the soil as a second step, which is very important for fruiting. The developed method of growing P. giganteus is fully described with all necessary steps.
Keywords: mushroom, polypropylene bags, saw dust substrate, tropical countries, underground wood.