Wood Ear mushrooms are purplish brown to dark brown and it can be anywhere from two to 8 inches in size. These mushrooms are somewhat cup-shaped, with a thick, smooth, wavy cap and almost no stem. The colour of the skin often takes on the colour of the tree that it grows on. With age, the mushroom darkens and the skin can turn black. The texture of the Wood Ear mushroom is crisp and crunchy.
- First species to be cultivated in China in A.D. 600.
- Highly prized in China and commonly used in soups.
- Mushrooms are cartilaginous and purplish brown in colour.
- Extensively used by Chinese to cure stomach diseases, in diabetes and as anti cancer
- Cultivation technology on paddy straw has been standardized by IIHR, Bengaluru.
Scientific name: Auracularia polytricha
Common name: Jew’s ear mushroom
Substrate: Supplemented sawdust, paddy straw
Cultivation environment
| Parameter | Spawn running | Development |
| Temperature | 24 – 30°C | 20 – 30°C
|
| Relative humidity | 90-95% | 90-95%
|
| Light | NOT required | 08-10 hours*
|
| Air exchange | – | 05-08 per hour
|
| Duration | 25-40 days | 05-10 days**
|
*Diffused, **Days after slitting poly bag
Cropping cycle: 8-10 weeks
Cropping period: 2 to 3 months
Major regions of cultivation World: China, Japan, and South Korea.
India: Occurs naturally in the forests of Western Ghats, Andaman, North east. One of the most relished mushrooms of Sikkim and Manipur, not cultivated in India.
Source-
- Indian Institute of Horticulture Research
