Mechanization Technology of Edible fungus production

The mechanization technology of edible fungus production is the technology of cultivating edible fungi by mechanical means, which integrates excellent strains, cultivation technology and mechanization technology. it is a kind of edible fungus production technology which changes manual operation into mechanical operation and decentralized management into intensive management.

1 the advantages of mechanized production technology

1.1 production advantage

The use of mechanization in the production of edible fungi can greatly improve the labor productivity, increase the work efficiency by 3 ~ 25 times, improve the level of specialized production, and produce more products in a relatively short time, and is not affected by the season.

1.2 quality advantage

Due to the high degree of specialization of mechanized production, stable production, superior purification conditions and strict management system. Compared with manual production, there are obvious advantages in quality: ① sawdust particle size meets the requirements, mixing uniformity is good, the tightness of bottling and bagging is better than manual production; ② can avoid overstocking and aging of bacteria, and the product pollution rate is low; ③ mechanical baking improves the product quality and can meet the export quality standards.

1.3 Economic advantages

Through mechanical means, a lot of manpower, material resources and various expenses can be saved. Through the processes of mechanical slicing and crushing, the agricultural and forestry secondary materials which could only be used as fuel were changed into the main materials for the production of edible fungi, which greatly increased the value of the products and changed the advantage of resources into the advantage of commodity economy.

1.4 practical advantages

The scale of production can be determined according to comprehensive factors such as capital, quantity, mode of operation, technical strength, and resource conditions. it can be designed as a single machine or combined into a semi-mechanized production line with an investment ranging from tens of thousands of yuan to hundreds of thousands of yuan. it is suitable for individual and unit production, and has obvious practical value of promotion.

2 production process and technical essentials

The main content of the mechanized technology of edible fungus production is to use branches, pruning strips, sawdust and shavings, corncob, corn stalk, wheat straw, rice straw, peanut shell, cottonseed shell and so on as the main raw materials. Add some auxiliary materials, such as wheat bran, rice bran, bean cake, peanut cake, sucrose, gypsum, calcium carbonate, magnesium sulfate and so on. After mechanical seed production, bag production, sterilization, inoculation, cultivation, harvest and processing, a set of technical specifications for mechanized production and cultivation were formed.

2.1 slicing process

The diameter of the selected wood is less than 120mm and the length is not greater than 2500mm. In order to facilitate the invasion of fungal microorganisms and the formation of organic acids for fermentation and mycelium germination and growth, mushroom wood needs to be naturally dried for a certain period of time before slicing. The maximum cross-sectional size (length × width) of the wood chip is 60mm × 20mm, the thickness is 4mm ±2mm, and the moisture content is above 20%. The slicing place is best to be carried out on the drying ground, so that the cut wood chips can be spread out nearby in time, so as to reduce the amount of transportation.

2.2 crushing process

The cut wood chips are air-dried and can be crushed when the moisture content is about 15%. Edible fungi have certain requirements on the thickness and fineness of culture materials. if the crushing is too fine, not only the crushing productivity is low, but also the air permeability is poor, which affects mycelium reproduction; if the culture material is too thick, it is easy to pierce the plastic bag and cause miscellaneous bacteria to invade and infection. at the same time, the culture material is not easy to be compacted, and it is easy to lose water during cultivation. Through the experiment, as the culture material of Lentinus edodes, 2.5mm~2.8mm is the best sieve diameter when crushing wood chips, and 5mm~7mm is the best when crushing straw and seed shell culture materials.

2.3 stirring process

The uniformity of stirring has a direct impact on the growth of edible fungi, the specific method is to weigh the material according to the prescribed formula proportion, first put the main material into the mixing chamber, the solid material with less content is uniformly input along the axis, and the material that can dissolve in water is first dissolved in water and then put into it. it is also necessary to add a certain amount of water to stir evenly in the blender.

2.4 bag-making technology

Bagging is generally suitable for the cultivation of Pleurotus ostreatus, Flammulina velutipes, Auricularia auricula and so on. The specification of plastic bags (length × width) is generally 17cm × 35cm, thick 0.04mm~0.05mm sterilizable low-pressure polyethylene plastic bags or high-pressure sterilized polypropylene plastic bags. The stick is suitable for the cultivation of Lentinus edodes and Tremella fuciformis.

2.5 Sterilization process

The sterilization process is generally divided into high pressure sterilization and atmospheric pressure sterilization. High pressure sterilization is mainly used to sterilize mother seed, original seed, cultivated seed and polypropylene plastic bag with cotton plug.

Atmospheric pressure sterilization, also known as soil steaming stove, disinfection stove sterilization, used for polyethylene bag sterilization. The bacterial bags should be discharged reasonably in the stove, and there should be a certain gap between the bags to make the steam flow smoothly and each bag heated evenly. In order to achieve the sterilization effect, the sterilization temperature must be kept 10h~20h at 100℃.

2.6 drying process

The drying process is also called dehydration process. Edible fungi can be directly sold or preserved in cold storage, or they can be preserved by dehydration. When dehydrating with the dryer, we must master the parameters such as temperature, time, supply air volume, moisture discharge and so on, in order to prevent coke, drying or decay.

3 configuration of processing machines and tools

The processing equipment used by general farmers or small edible fungus factories are branch slicer, grinder, mixer, bottling (bag) machine, disinfection and sterilization equipment, drying equipment and so on.

3.1 Branch slicer

There are mainly two types: ZQ- 600 and MG- 700. The working principle is as follows: when working, the pulley is driven by power, the cutter head is rotated by the spindle, the cutter head is equipped with a flying knife, and the feed port is equipped with a bottom knife. The wood is fed through the feed port and is cut into wood chips by a flying knife. due to the inertia force, the suction and polishing effect of the wind blade on the cutter head and the cutting effect of the bottom knife, the wood chips are quickly thrown out from the material outlet under the body. Before using the machine, the flying knife should be adjusted in the same plane, the distance between the flying knife and the cutter head plane is 4mm~5mm (ZQ- 600) and 6mm~10mm (MC- 700), and the gap between the flying knife and the bottom knife is 0.3mm~0.8mm.

3.2 grinder

The main crushers are 9FT40 and 9FQS40, which can not only crush wood chips, but also crop straw and feed. Its working principle is as follows: the power drives the spindle to rotate at the speed of 3500r/min~3600r/min through the belt pulley, the wood chip enters the crushing chamber from the feed mouth, is broken after being hit by a high-speed rotating hammer, is thrown to the circumferential tooth plate, and then bounces back with the discharge plate, and is hit by the hammer again. So after repeated blows and impacts, the wood chips or materials are crushed into small particles, and under the action of a high-speed rotating exhaust fan, the crushed sawdust is sucked through the sieve and sent out of the machine from the outlet, and the coarse sawdust that failed to pass is left in the crushing chamber to continue crushing.

3.3 Mixer

Multi-use WJ- 70 raw material mixer, this machine can stir 100kg aqueous culture material every time, stir 3min every time, operate 8 ~ 10 times per hour, can stir culture material 800kg/h~1000kg/h. When working, it is necessary to put the mixing raw materials and water into the drum, cover the cylinder cover, close the clutch, and the mixing shaft begins to rotate. Eight mixing plates arranged spirally in the left and right direction on the shaft drive the material to flip up and down and move axially to and fro in the drum, so as to achieve the purpose of evenly mixing materials.

3.4 bagging (bottling) machine

At present, the bagging (bottle) machine is the most widely used edible fungus machine, which has the advantages of simple structure, convenient use, high productivity and low price. When in use, we should pay attention to the diameter and length of the dragon cover to meet the needs of different plastic bag specifications. Its working principle is as follows: when the culture material enters the hopper, because of the self-weight of the culture material and the function of the mixer, it is fed into the stirring dragon sleeve, and the spiral stirring sleeve pushes the culture material out of the stirring sleeve and into the plastic bag.

3.5 Disinfection and sterilization equipment

In the production process of edible fungi, the equipment used for disinfection and sterilization are pressure cooker, direct heating sterilization stove and input steam sterilization room.

3.5.1 pressure cookers can be divided into portable, vertical and horizontal types. The utility model is composed of a pot body, a safety valve, an air release valve, a pressure gauge, a thermometer, a pot cover and a fastening bolt, etc. Its working principle is: the outside of the pressure cooker is heated directly, when the water boils in the closed pot, the steam can not escape, with the continuous increase of steam pressure in the pot, the temperature is also rising, so as to achieve the purpose of high temperature sterilization.

3.5.2 Direct heating sterilization stove, also known as soil steaming stove and atmospheric stove, is easy to make, low cost and easy to popularize and use. The requirement of the stove is not high, as long as you save fuel.

3.5.3 Infusion steam sterilization room this facility is used in large-scale edible fungus production plants, putting bottle fungus or cultivation bags on trolleys into the sterilization room and passing into steam sterilization.

3.6 drying and dehydration equipment

There are many types and types of drying equipment, such as dryers, placed hot air ovens, dehydrators, drying rooms or simple drying silos, etc.