Mana Mushrooms

This is one of the core pages from SCIZERINM that reflects the opportunity for improving our agricultural system. The purpose of the page in the context of the SCIZERI NM site is to reflect their work with Ivanka Milosevic, one of the scientists in the ZERI 'network', a mycologist from Yugoslavia. Mana Mushrooms would like to work with Ivanka in the future, pending successful implementation of the CIP method and sufficient financing / creative partnership.

One component of the system which I feel is under-explored is the conveyance of medicinal and nutritional properties of mushrooms to cattle/ruminants and their byproducts; can we reduce antibiotic loads in cattle by using spent mushroom substrates from certain fungi with medicinal properties? It seems logical that the fundamental chemical characteristics of certain fungi would be transmitted through to milks and meats -- proteins, for example.

SCIZERINM - 3

I have experienced success in cultivating some kind of mushroom. It looked early on as if it was going to be a typical oyster mushroom and then developed into something different. It may have gotten contaminated at some point or parasitized by some gremlins. Unless the spawn I recieved was mislabeled, the base of the growth ought to be Pleurotus ostreatus, or the typical tree oyster mushroom / white oyster mushroom.

Carbon dioxide and/or temperature and/or humidity levels may have something to do with the developmental oddity. These are certainly not oyster mushrooms as I know them. Please see the photos attached to this blog post for details.

I will also seek a new strain for comparison and continue the 'blank' trial, already in progress, which is testing to determine the efficacy of the strong pH solutions against municipal water. It may be that the substrate material is sufficiently clean to not necessitate further sterilization. If this is the case, we can eliminate the CIP fluid handling, which is a labor, time, and energy intensive process relative to using basic tap water, already on site. To clarify, CIP fluids still represent an appealing alternative to heat pasturization. Transporting them and coordinating pickup with a busy brewer has been daunting, and if it is an unnecessary step (i.e. the substrate can be inoculated directly), let's get rid of it. I'm not out to handle materials for the sake of doing so. If CIP fluid rinses reduce contamination rates, which it stands to reason they would, facilities co-located with a brewery would be an excellent implementation scenario. Until this process is proven and demonstrated to partner satisfaction, it is unlikely that this scenario will play out.

I have it on Gunter Pauli's word that this process has been completed in Namibia and in Japan (Shinano brewery). Gunter is the Founder of ZERI (see links section), and a mentor of mine. He indicates that Namibia stopped their process in 2002 and that Shinano is still making bread with some of their spent grain, but does not have an active mushroom cultivation program since the passing of the late owner. I am looking further into this and will report more as I have it, here. The bread angle is an interesting one. I was fortunate enough to be in the same ZERI course with the owners of SKA Brewing, a brewery located in Durango, CO. Jeff, the Master Brewer there, treated us with some bread made with some of his spent grain It was fantastic! This model seems most appropriate for relatively small-scale breweries, due to the spoilage possibilities of spent grain and the consequent properties transmitted to the bread, which, though great fresh, apparently does not keep well. This seems to be different, from Erzquel brewery, however, who I believe offered a series of byproduct-related goods, including bread -- a great way to spread the brand, for sure!

I will soon be working with a liquid inoculation technique that will provide for significant relative increases in amplification of spawn. Before November, I will also be making more additions to the links section to provide site visitors with more content. Thanks to those of you who have made suggestions and inquiries; these dialogs have prompted more research on my part and will yield more appropriate information for this community. Not the least of which research led me to a couple of mushroom videos which I purchased and found to be excellent sources of information for the home cultivator. I will soon put these nuanced methods to work and report on results, probably before the end of the calendar year and most likely through this blog and a series of appropriate links.

CPF&A

We will use waste coffee grounds, wood chips, sawdust, and brewer’s waste as substrate to cultivate exotic fresh mushrooms for sale. We will make smart use of our spent substrate, contracting where possible to do environmental restoration for a combination of revenue, tax benefits, and warm fuzzies (“PR”, for the soulless, business-focused individual). We have significant interest in medicinal and research spaces. We recognize the opportunity for revenue, public good, and personnel development in patents and intellectual property. We are excited about providing alternative, natural, affordable health supplements and medicinal mushrooms. Whether via direct consumption or processing by pharmaceutical specialists, we will indirectly serve the existing market for the established anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties of certain mushrooms and fungal derivatives (penicillin might be familiar to the reader). We are teaching ourselves about the opportunities mushroom cultivation offers in the context of sustainable agriculture, particularly when applied using appropriate technologies.

There are many exciting avenues to pursue with fungi. The most straightforward business opportunity is the cultivation of exotic mushrooms. We plan to use our business model to capitalize on this aspect of the mushroom market. Following success in this area, we will continue to innovate to transform more “waste” into material wealth, simultaneously working towards our fiscal as well as philanthropic goals. We are social entrepreneurs working to establish new best practices using cutting edge systems design in harmony with the principles of nature.