This study seeks to not only reduce the costs of producing oyster mushrooms or Pleurotus ostreatus, but also, by using materials that mesh with regional characteristics, to facilitate the production of Pleurotus ostreatus that can be used as functional oriental medicinal materials. To this end, the medicinal herbs which have been produced in the Sancheong area to produce Pleurotus ostreatus that can be used as functional oriental medicine and the medicinal sludge discarded by oriental medical clinics and dispensaries of oriental medicine were used as a culture medium to cultivate Pleurotus ostreatus.
1. An analysis of the crude ash contents of medicinal herbs and sludge revealed that while medicinal sludge Ⅰ and Ⅱ contained 5.91% and 7.19% of crude ash respectively, wild Artemisiae argyi folium contained 8.31%. In this regard, these levels were slightly lower than those of the control. The crude ash contents of Acanthopanax chiisanensis and Carthamus tinctorius L were measured at 10.14% and 11.67% respectively. These totals were slightly higher than those of the control. Meanwhile, the crude ash content of Eucommia ulmoides was the lowest of all the samples measured at 2.5%.
2. The crude fat contents of medicinal sludge Ⅰand Ⅱ and the wild Artemisiae argyi folium was found to be 10.12%, 7.04% and 6.95% respectively, or about 4-5 times higher than the levels exhibited by the control. However, the crude fat contents of Eucommia ulmoides, Carthamus tinctorius L, and Acanthopanax chiisanensis, although higher than that of the waste cotton, were found to be lower than those of the other samples at 3.54%, 3.39%, and 3.01% respectively.
3. The crude protein content of the waste cotton used as the control was measured at 9.52%. Meanwhile, the wild Artemisiae argyi folium, Acanthopanax chiisanensis, medicinal sludge Ⅰ and Ⅱ, and Carthamus tinctorius L exhibited higher crude protein contents of 14.91%, 13.97%, 13.30%, and 11.56% respectively.
4. The pHs of the liquids obtained through the filtration of medicinal sludge Ⅰ and Ⅱ, wild Artemisiae argyi folium, and Acanthopanax chiisanensis varied between pH 5.27∼5.72, a result which was similar to the pH 5.70 exhibited by the waste cotton employed as the control.
5. The analysis of the influence of herbal medicines and medicinal sludge on the mycelial growth of Pleurotus ostreatus in a Petri dish revealed that while the mycelial of Pleurotus ostreatus actively grew in the plate medium to which medicinal sludge Ⅰand Ⅱ, Carthamus tinctorius L, Artemisiae argyi folium, and Acanthopanax chiisanensis were added, it did not grow in the medium to which Eucommia ulmoides was added.
6. An examination of the concentrations of medicinal sludge Ⅰ and Ⅱ, Carthamus tinctorius L, Artemisiae argyi folium, and Acanthopanax chiisanensis revealed that while the mycelial of Pleurotus ostreatus grew rapidly in cases where 5% of the relevant materials were added, the density of these mycelials was quite low. On the other hand, mycelial growth was rapid and high density was exhibited when concentrations of 10% and 15% of the relevant materials were added.
7. The addition of medicinal herbs and sludge was found to have little impact on the growth of P. tolaassi responsible for the Bacterial Brown Blotch Pathogen affecting Pleurotus ostreatus, or the growth of the Trichoderma sp. which causes green mold disease.
8. The analysis of moisture content at various drying times involving 10g of dried medicinal herbs and sludge soaked in water revealed that Carthamus tinctorius L and waste cotton exhibited identical weights of 2.8 g after 5 hours of drying. Meanwhile, medicinal sludge Ⅰ and Ⅱand Acanthopanax chiisanensis weighed about 6 g, or twice as much as the waste cotton used as a control.
9. The various media for the Pleurotus ostreatus were cultivated by pouring in a 180 ㎖ glass bottle fermented media to which 10% concentration of different kinds of medicinal herbs and sludge had been added to waste cotton, and then inoculating the liquid mycelial of the Pleurotus ostreatus. The end result was that while the Pleurotus ostreatus mycelial grew by 10 mm in the case of the regular waste cotton, it grew by 15 mm during the second day of cultivation in the case of the medium to which Eucommia ulmoides had been added. However, the Pleurotus ostreatus mycelial grew more rapidly in the other five experiments, averaging between 25∼37 mm of growth. The gap in the mycelial growth exhibited by the experiments and control became more pronounced as the days went by. After the sixth day of cultivation, the glass bottles containing the experiments to which medicinal sludge Ⅱ, Acanthopanax chiisanensis, and medicinal sludge Ⅰ were added were covered with the mycelials of Pleurotus ostreatus.
10. On-site experiments involving the addition of 10% medicinal sludge to waste cotton were conducted at the farms of six farmers who were members of the Association of the Sancheong Oyster Mushroom Cultivation in Jiri Mountain. During the cultivation process, the smell of the medicinal herbs pervaded the site where Pleurotus ostreatus was produced until the first batch was harvested. The Pleurotus ostreatus mycelial emerged approximately 2∼3 days faster than the mycelial grown on regular waste cotton. Moreover, the Pleurotus ostreatus mycelial exhibited a high survival rate. The Pleurotus ostreatus harvest was 10∼15% greater than that of the waste cotton. Finally, in terms of the quality of the Pleurotus ostreatus produced, the caps and stems of the Pleurotus ostreatus produced from the medium to which medicinal sludge was added were found to be more uniform than those produced using the regular waste cotton.