β-Adenosine, a bioactive compound in grass chaff stimulating mushroom production

Fructification and yield of the edible mushrooms Pleurotus pulmonarius and Stropharia rugosoannulata are clearly enhanced when wheat straw is supplemented with 30% Lolium perenne grass chaff. The bioactive compound in the methanol extract of grass chaff was identified as β-adenosine. In vitro biological activity tests showed that 0.012 mg of β-adenosine per ml of medium stimulated earlier fructification of Pleurotus pulmonarius. Mushroom fruiting trials showed that when 12 mg β-adenosine was added to 1 kg wet wheat straw, primordia of Pleurotus pulmonarius appeared two days earlier and primordia of Stropharia rugosoannulata appeared 18 days earlier when compared to pure wheat straw substrate. This concentration of β-adenosine had no impact on the mushroom yield of Pleurotus, but resulted in a 2.2 fold increase in yield for Stropharia. β-Adenosine at 25 mg per kg wet wheat straw increased the yield of Pleurotus with 52% and the yield of Stropharia with 258%, but this concentration delayed primordial formation in Pleurotus.