Development of Environmental Control System for High-Quality Shiitake Mushroom (Lentinus edodes (Berk.) Sing.) Production

Purpose: Recently, an increasing number of farms have been cultivating shiitake mushrooms using a sawdust substrate and a cooler/heater. In this study, an attempt was made to develop an environmental control system using a heat pump for cultivating high-quality shiitake mushrooms. Methods: An environmental control system, consisting of an air-to-water type heat pump, a thermal storage tank, and a radiator in a variable opening chamber, was designed and fabricated. The system was also installed in the cultivation facility of a farm cultivating shiitake mushrooms so as to compare the proposed control system with a conventional environmental control system using a cooler-condensing unit and an electric hot water boiler. Results: The uniformity of the environment was analyzed through environment measurements taken at several positions inside the cultivation facility. It was determined that the developed environmental control system is able to control the variations in temperature and relative humidity to within 1% and 3%, respectively. In addition, a maximum temperature difference of 30°C (maximum of 35°C, minimum of 5°C) and a maximum relative humidity difference of 30% (maximum of 90%, minimum of 60%) can be attained within 30 min inside the cultivation facility through the cooling of the heat pump and heating of the radiator in a variable opening chamber. Thus, the developed control system can be used to cultivate high-quality shiitake mushrooms more effectively than a conventional cooler and heater. Conclusions: In comparison with a conventional environmental control system, the developed system decreased the yield of ordinary mushrooms by 65%, and increased that of high-quality mushrooms by 217%. This corresponds to a 16% increase in gross farm income. Consequently, the developed system is expected to improve the income of shiitake mushroom cultivating farms.