As one of the four most famous fungi in the world, morels have a high price in the international market. The only country in the world that has made breakthroughs in artificial cultivation technology is China. The Kunming Institute of Botany has not only allowed the Chinese people to quietly realize the freedom of morels, but also made it possible for truffles to achieve stable and high yields in artificial cultivation. No wonder morels are so easy to buy in China. It will be great when we can achieve the freedom of precious strains such as truffles, gallbladders, and matsutake mushrooms.
As one of the four most famous fungi in the world, morels have a high price in the international market. The production of wild morels is extremely limited, and large-scale collection has caused some genetic resources to be endangered. However, thanks to the scientific research team of the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China has broken through the high-yield and stable-yield technology of artificial cultivation of morels, and China can eat the cheapest morels in the world.
The edible value of morels
Morels have a unique taste and fresh aroma, and contain up to 18 kinds of amino acids, including 8 essential amino acids that the human body cannot synthesize by itself.
With its rich nutritional content and important medicinal value, morels are known as a natural, nutritious and multi-functional health food. Since the production of wild morels is extremely limited and demand exceeds supply in domestic and foreign markets, large-scale collection has led to the endangered species of some genetic resources.
my country has launched systematic research on fungi
In order to promote the protection and sustainable utilization of many important fungi, including Morel, the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences has launched my country's study on the southwest Systematic study of macrofungi.
After more than half a century of discipline construction and talent cultivation, an important team of domestic and international mycology researchers has now been formed. The research content covers fungal systematics, fungal developmental biology, biogeography, fungal chemistry, conservation biology, domestication and cultivation of rare fungi, etc.
Since 2007, researchers have continued to collect, evaluate, and select superior strains of Morchella germplasm resources in my country, and have obtained more than 8,920 strains.
The study found that China is the modern species diversity center of the global Morchella genus, and more than 30 high-quality and high-yield core germplasm strains of Morel were screened out, including Kunzhi No. 1 and Kunzhi No. 2. Through research, it has been proven that 14 species, including Morchella striata and Morchella sibiricum, are heterogeneous, revealing the complex life history of morels.
Kunming Institute of Botany published relevant patents and papers
The study also found that unstable yields are caused by the rapid degeneration of bacterial strains. Using the specificity of mating type genes, innovatively proposed The early 1+1 mating type gene detection technology determines whether the production strains are degraded or not, and solves the problem of detecting high-yielding and stable-yielding morel strains.
Through the continuous efforts of scientific researchers, the research on morels has achieved fruitful results, and 19 related articles have been published. Applied for 33 national invention patents, obtained 12 nationally authorized invention patents, and won 2 provincial and ministerial level science and technology awards. These theoretical and technological innovations provide a solid theoretical foundation and strong technical support for the high-yield and stable-yield cultivation of morels.
Create a new cultivation and management model of morels
In order to solve the contradiction between supply and demand of morels, protect morels resources, achieve sustainable development and benefit sharing, the scientific research team creatively A new planting and management model of spring sowing and summer harvesting, summer sowing and autumn harvesting, and autumn sowing and winter harvesting is proposed.
The mushroom yield rate of field planting has been increased by 20-30%, and the planting cycle has been shortened from the past 120-180 days to 60-100 days, achieving efficient cultivation of morels in the field in all four seasons. Recently, the scientific research team has achieved success in the factory cultivation of morels, creating a new way for the utilization of such resources.
Large-scale cultivation of morels
Standardized and large-scale cultivation of morels has been achieved. At present, morels are grown in Yunnan, Sichuan, Gansu, Guizhou, Chongqing and other provinces and cities in my country. The area planted with fungi continues to grow.
The cumulative demonstration planting area across the country has reached more than 16,800 acres, with economic benefits reaching more than 150 million yuan, effectively helping industrial poverty alleviation and rural revitalization in remote mountainous areas. This project has been well received by local governments, enterprises and farmers, and has significantly reduced the collection of wild morels.