Ben Hoffmann
WSU Pullmann Washington & Earth’s Tongue of Texas, USA
Title: Contaminant Proof Media, Substrates, & Liquid: Organic based and laboratory grade extracts that inhibit the growth of competitive fungi, yeast, and bacteria for years.
Biography
Biography: Ben Hoffmann
Abstract
What if I told you that there was a way.to completely safeguard live cultures from competitor fungi? If there was a way to completely prevent contamination of your spawn and grain and all your mushroom bags and jars, and even your casing soil for your multimillion dollar a year Agaricus production? What if there was a way for you to do it completely organically without the risk of contaminating the food with pharmaceutical or USP powders which have not been tested whether they are passed on to the consumer inside the mushroom? A recent study conducted by Earth’s Tongue of Texas has analysed and tested several polysaccharides found in plants for their anti-bacterial properties and anti-fungal properties. We have also found and tested a compound found in a perennial root that has powerful anti-bacterial, anti-yeast and anti-fungal properties. Several hundred petri dishes were used containing different contender polysaccharides and extracts in the media to gather information on their effectiveness. Dishes were exposed to many different types of bacteria and a wide variety of mold spores. A control group with nothing added except PDA was always done at the same time. Dishes were checked periodically at strcitly specific hours and recorded on photograph and paper. A bacteria count was recorded of each dish by dish #. A mold count was also recorded of each dish by dish #. Semi-final rounds were done with the polysaccharides, extracts, and compounds with the most success. These were then tested for their ability to allow our host mushroom or culture to pro-create and grow successfully without being inhibited by the anti-fungal compounds. We found some very positive results with some compounds which ended up making it to the final round. In the final round, concentrations were tweaked to test least necessary concentration of each compound for it to have anti-bacterial and/or anti-fungal activity.These were later repeatedly tested in media, liquids, and substrates to finally come to a final formulation which is highly sucessful at completely eliminating the posibility to be contaminated by any competitive molds and/or bacteria for prolonged periods of time and encouraging healthy fruit body producing mycelium growth.