Fruiting Body Production and Aroma Profile Analysis of Agrocybe aegerita Cultivated on Different Substrates

The industrial cultivated basidiomycete Agrocybe aegerita, also known as “Pioppino” in Italy or “Samthaube” in Germany, is a high quality mushroom with a delicious aroma. Cultivation of A. aegerita on wheat straw supplemented with different residues of the food industry showed the highest yields in fruiting body production with a biological efficiency of 36% when black tea pomace was added. The addition of other substrates resulted in biological efficiencies of 23% to 33%. Besides the mushroom yields, the number and size of fruiting bodies harvested on the different substrates were determined. A comparison of the aroma profiles of A. aegerita grown on wheat straw and on wheat straw supplemented with black tea by means of GC/MS/MS/O is presented.