Cultivation and Nutrient Compositions of Medicinal Mushroom, Hericium erinaceus in Thailand

Hericium erinaceus, commonly known as “Lion’s Mane,” is widely edible, used for medicinal purposes, and has a long history of cultivation in China and Japan since 1990s. In this study, four strains of Hericium erinaceus (MFLUCC 21-0018, MFLCC 21-0019, MFLUCC 21-0020, and MFLUCC 21-0021) were grown for cultivation and proximate analysis. The mushroom was cultivated on three different substrate treatments, designed using a completely randomized design (CRD), harvested as fresh fruiting bodies, dried at 40–45 °C, and the total yield calculated. We pulverized the dried fruiting body for proximate composition and analyzed it according to standard procedures. The result showed that all H. erinaceus strains in three different substrate treatments produced mature fresh fruiting bodies when the temperature was 18–24 °C, while the second substrate treatment under conditions of the sawdust bag content 77% of para rubber sawdust, 15% of red sorghum, 3% of rice bran, 2% of yeast powder, 1% of lime (CaO), 1% of gypsum (CaSO4 • 2H2O), and 1% of molasses produced a high yield of 85.79–123.7 grams/bag. Proximate analysis of the dried mushroom powder showed high levels of protein content between 15.30% and 19.56%. The cultivation of H. erinaceus in Thailand is a significant achievement, as this type of mushroom is generally valued for its nutritional and therapeutic properties.