Beta-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 beta-adenosine. In vitro biological activity tests showed that 0.012 mg of beta-adenosine per ml of medium stimulated earlier fructification of Pleurotus pulmonarius. Mushroom fruiting trials showed that when 12 mg beta-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 beta-adenosine had no impact on the mushroom yield of Pleurotus, but resulted in a 2.2 fold increase in yield for Stropharia. beta-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.