Italian spawn manufacturer Italspawn has developed a new product: a professional inoculum kit for the production of commercial mushroom spawn, under the name “iSpawn”.
Italspawn has developed this new product to support and improve the small to medium scale production of those laboratories or mushroom farms which only focus their attention on the first stage of spawn production (substrate pre-treatment) without having to worry about the preparation and maintenance of mother cultures. These mother cultures are the most delicate stage of spawn production, and they require a lot of research and testing, especially for the development and selection of new strains in order to guarantee the best product performances.
The product is destined to those countries and markets where the cost and time of shipping make spawn delivery very difficult and cost ineffective.
The kit can be shipped worldwide in a clean moderately refrigerated package through express courier and can be stored before usage in a normal fridge for up to five months without opening. Once one of the bags has been opened all the content must be used to avoid contamination.
Easy shipping
Max Sartor, general manager of the company that is based in Onigo di Pederobba, in the north of Italy, foresees a good market for the product. “iSpawn is a good solution for those mushroom farms and compost manufacturers that are difficult to reach with normal spawn deliveries. It is a product that can easily be shipped worldwide, and will eventually produce up to 1000 liters of mushroom spawn. The pure culture contained in the inoculum kit is meant to be used to inoculate a sterile substrate based on a kind of cereal grain. Rye, millet, wheat and sorghum (Indian Millet) are among the varieties that can guarantee the best results. The second requirement, other than the sterilized grain packed in a totally sterile container, is a laminar flow clean bench located in a clean area suitable for such a delicate process, and a Bunsen burner. It is absolutely crucial to maintain both the grain and the containers totally sterile throughout the process”.
The kit includes two 2 liter bags containing a sterile monoculture powder inoculum ready to be grown, sterile dosing spoons, a sterile Tyvek suit, sterile rubber gloves, a sterile face mask and an illustrated instruction manual. The two bags produce 1000-2000 litres of spawn, enough to spawn up to 200 tons of pasteurized compost. The price of the inoculum kit is 199, 99 Euros, excluding shipping.
For further information you can contact bio@italspawn.com
