Qualitative characteristics of the fungus Cyclocybe aegerita strains 2229, 2230, 2231 IBK under industrial cultivation conditions

Poplar mushroom is characterised by attractive fruiting bodies in terms of appearance and taste. Cyclocybe aegerita mushrooms are also known to contain unique substances, including proteins, polysaccharides, and aromatic substances with proven nutritional value and medicinal effects. However, the lack of a sound cultivation technology using available plant material limits the saturation of the domestic market with mushrooms of this species. Three strains of C. aegerita from the IBK National Collection of Agaricale Cultures of the Institute of Ecology and Natural Resources were studied for their potential introduction into commercial culture. It was determined that strains 2230 and 2231 have a vegetation cycle of 42 days compared to 46-64 days for the previously studied strains. The highest yield in the experiment was obtained for strain 2231, which ranged from 217 to 220 g per kilogram of a substrate over three cultivation cycles. The biological efficiency of the strains according to the results of the first wave of fruiting ranged from 20.2 (2229) to 60.4% (2231), which is consistent with the published data of other researchers. The appearance and parameters of the fruiting bodies of the strains, which differed in both the colour of the pileus and the size, were described in detail. Under microclimatic conditions of the experiment, strains 2230 and 2231 had a rich brown colour of pilei, while the formed fruit bodies of strain 2229 were distinguished by a pleasant milky cream colour. The largest fruiting bodies in terms of weight were obtained by cultivation of strain 2229 (7.5 ± 0.4 g), which is on average 2 g higher than the weight of mushrooms of other studied strains. The highest fruiting bodies were discovered in strain 2230 having a height of 91.0 ± 1.8 mm, which also had the widest pilei with a diameter of 29.5 ± 0.9 mm. The largest stem diameter, which reached an average of 10.8 ± 0.3 mm, was detected in the fruiting bodies of strain 2229. This study investigated the variability of morphological traits and identified trends in the number of fruiting bodies of a certain size in the total volume of collected mushrooms, which facilitates the design of packaging and marketing campaigns