"Applied and fundamental science for the mushroom industry and fungal biotechnology"

The mushroom is a high value horticultural crop. The annual world-wide production of the Agaricus bisporus mushroom is 2m. tonnes with a value of £3bn (4.5 bn Euros). To grow mushrooms, first compost is made by the bioconversion of agricultural wastes. Compost is inoculated with mushroom spawn, mushrooms are then produced in growing rooms with computerised environmental control. The Mushroom Research Team is investigating all stages of mushroom cultivation and science: agronomy, pathology, entomology, genetics, biochemistry and physiology to support and offer futures for the industry and to create new opportunities in fungal biotechnology. Although much of the work is laboratory based, Warwick HRI has a mushroom unit that mimics commercial production.

The mushroom unit at Warwick HRI is a unique facility in which to carry out commercial scale trials under precisely controlled conditions. The unit comprises a composting yard, mini and maxi bulk  pasteurisation tunnels, a large prep room for spawning and casing, spawn running rooms and 16 cropping houses. The computerised system allows control of air and compost temperature, carbon dioxide concentration, humidity and steam cook out after cropping.

Current research projects on mushrooms include:

Applied mushroom, waste composting and plant growing media research (Ralph Noble)

Mushroom Disease Research and Services (Peter Mills)

Mushroom Pests (Jane Smith)

Mushroom Quality and Morphogenesis (Kerry Burton and Daniel Eastwood)

Strain Improvement (Mike Challen and S. Sreenivasaprasad)