〈Research Date〉Problems and Prospects of the Artificial Cultivation of Tricholoma matsutake

[Synopsis] Tricholoma matsutake is one of the most delicious, and invaluable mushrooms that are edible in Japan, China and Korea. The annual production of this mushroom in Japan was reportedly 12,000 tons in 1941, 3,509 tons in 1960, only 211 tons in 1995, and has decreased substantially to only 34 tons in 2005. The demand for the artificial cultivation of T. matsutake has grown stronger. To evaluate the potential of the T. matsutake to produce extracellular carbohydrases, we investigated the distribution of enzyme activities among the 18 strains of the fungus. As a result, we discovered that /1-glucosidase demonstrated strong activity in the static culture filtrate. This finding suggests the saprotrophic abilities of this fungus and then, we pointed out the weak points of the artificial cultivation of T. matsutake