Pearl Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) Agar Culture

Pearl Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) are a common culinary mushroom that usually grow in large "shelf-like" clusters. Pleurotus mushrooms are among the fastest fruiting mushrooms known to man, and when conditions are right clusters can double in size within a day! These mushrooms also have uses beyond the kitchen, and are commonly used for industrial-scale mycoremediation purposes.

The Oyster mushroom is widespread in many temperate and subtropical forests throughout the world, and is a saprotroph that acts as a primary decomposer of wood, especially deciduous trees, beech in particular.Therefore, when growing Oyster mushrooms indoors one must use a hardwood-amended substrate. Oysters, along with Lions Mane, are some of the easiest mushrooms species to grow, so are both a great choice for a beginner grower!

Oyster mushrooms are regarded as a delicacy in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese cuisine. This mushroom species is frequently served on its own, in soups, stuffed, or in stir-fry recipes. The mushroom's taste has been described as mild with a slight odor similar to anise. Oyster's are best when picked young; as the mushroom ages the flesh becomes tough and the flavor becomes acrid and unpleasant.

Adding this agar culture to our sterilized rye grain will produce high quality grain spawn that can be used to inoculate a wood based sterilized substrate.

The Pearl Oyster isolate is grown on agar in a parafilm-wrapped 90x20mm petri dish. Our agar is made with agar agar powder which is food grade with a high gel strength of 900g/cm2. We add light dry malt extract powder to our agar mixture to help promote growth of the mycelium. The malt extract is of the highest quality, sustainably sourced and made for brewing