Preservation of Basidiospores of Agaricus bisporus for Long Period Storage

Abstract

Preservation of microorganisms by using vacuum-drying methods has long been known. A good result was also obtained by employing the method of Sordelli for the storage of basidiospores of Agaricus bisporus. However, a better result has been obtained when an ampoule was used instead of the larger test tube as described earlier by the authors. Spores were noticed to have retained viability after three years' storage in a vacuum-dried ampoule kept at –20°C, –40°C, 0°C, +5°C, +25°C under natural conditions. No decrease in mushroom yield was observed during the two-year experiments.