EFFECTS OF LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE (LED) LIGHTING ON THE ERGOSTEROL CONTENT OF BEECH MUSHROOMS (LYOPHYLLUM ULMARIUM)

Beech mushrooms (Lyophyllum ulmarium) consist of two varieties: brown (BBM) and white (WBM). The mushrooms contain ergosterol that can be converted to vitamin D-2. WBM and BBM samples were exposed to light-emitting diode (LED; red, yellow, green, blue, white and blue plus white) and fluorescent lamp (FL) light by turning the light source on and off for 5 and 10 min, repetitively, for 10 days. LED exposure was more effective for fruit body development than FL exposure. Also, ergosterol contents in WBM exposed to yellow, green and blue LED (171.55, 155.66 and 160.21 mg/100 g, respectively) were significantly higher than those subjected to FL (143.58 mg/100 g). Therefore, considering ergosterol contents and growth of mushrooms together, yellow LED for WBM and blue LED for BBM were selected as the optimal treatments. LED treatment could be used as a new method to cultivate beech mushrooms for industrial production.