Dacun Shiitake Mushrooms

Dacun Shiitake Mushrooms

Dacun Shiitake Mushrooms are a product with a geographical indication.

　　Known as the "Hometown of Edible Fungi in Qingdao," Dacun Town in Jiaonan City offers visitors the chance to enter shiitake cultivation greenhouses and pick mushrooms alongside local farmers. The town has vigorously developed its edible fungi industry, focusing on shiitake and black fungus. To date, over 60 villages and more than 6,000 households in the town are involved in edible fungi cultivation, growing 18 varieties with a total of over 50 million mushroom logs. In addition, "Dacun Shiitake Mushrooms" and "Dacun Black Fungus" received national geographical indication certification from the Ministry of Agriculture in August this year, becoming protected local specialty agricultural products.

　　Up to 3 million kilograms of shiitake mushrooms can be harvested annually

　　On October 23, a reporter visited Hansen Fungi Industry Co., Ltd., a leading enterprise in Dacun Town’s edible fungi industry, accompanied by Ding Jianlei, head of the town's edible fungi office. Upon entering the Hanlin Agricultural Demonstration Park of the company, the reporter saw endless rows of mushroom cultivation greenhouses. It is introduced that this is the largest shiitake cultivation base in the Qingdao area, covering an area of over 500 acres with more than 3,000 square meters of cultivation facilities. Inside the greenhouse, the reporter observed dark mushroom logs neatly buried in the soil, covered with shiitake mushrooms of various sizes, as farmers were busy picking the mature ones and placing them into baskets.

　　Later, the reporter joined in the mushroom picking. In less than five minutes, over 20 large shiitake mushrooms had been picked. Ding Jianlei explained that farmers enter the greenhouses both in the morning and afternoon to harvest mature mushrooms and then water the logs, enabling year-round, seasonal harvesting. It is understood that Hansen Fungi Industry can harvest over 3 million kilograms of fresh shiitake mushrooms annually, which are sold to cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

　　Certified with Geographical Indication for Agricultural Products

　　Dacun Shiitake Mushrooms

　　Geographic Scope

　　Dacun Town is located in the western part of Jiaonan City, Shandong Province, with the Baima River running through the entire area. It borders Zangma Mountain to the east, connects to Dongjiakou Port — a hundred-million-ton port of Jiaonan City — to the south, neighbors Zhucheng City to the west, and links to Jiaozhou City to the north. The geographical indication protection area for "Dacun Shiitake Mushrooms" includes 82 administrative villages such as Zhongcun, Qiancun, and Dashiling in Dacun. The shiitake cultivation area spans 4,000 mu, with an annual production of 15,000 tons of fresh shiitake mushrooms. The protected region for Dacun Shiitake Mushrooms spans longitude 119°30′ to 120°11′ and latitude 35°35′ to 36°08′, at elevations between 5m and 174m.

　　Product Quality Characteristics

　　1. External Sensory Features: Dacun shiitake mushrooms have a regular shape, being flat and hemispherical, with caps 5cm–8cm in diameter. The caps are slightly curled inward, light brown in color on the surface, and the stems are covered with fine, hair-like scales. The gills are radially and evenly arranged, and the flesh is originally white, with a fine and elastic texture. 2. Internal Quality Indicators of Dacun Shiitake Mushrooms: The average trace element content of Dacun shiitake mushrooms is: calcium ≥59mg/kg, phosphorus ≥980mg/kg, iron ≥18mg/kg, zinc ≥8mg/kg, vitamin B10 ≥12mg/100g, vitamin B2 ≥132mg/g. Crude protein ≥3%, cellulose ≥35g/kg. The wood used for cultivating Dacun shiitake mushrooms is all hardwood, providing a better nutritional foundation for the mushrooms. Dacun shiitake mushrooms are rich in organic compounds such as shiitake polysaccharides and lentinacin. 3. Unique Flavor of Dacun Shiitake Mushrooms: Dacun Town experiences greater day-night temperature differences compared to southern regions, with daytime temperatures generally around 21°C–25°C and dropping to about 15°C–18°C at night. This is conducive to the intertwining and coiling of surface mycelium, allowing it to better absorb nutrients from surrounding mycelium. This helps accumulate the umami components (nucleic acid constituents) of the shiitake mushrooms, resulting in a richer and more delicious flavor. 4. Safety Requirements: Dacun shiitake mushrooms must strictly comply with the standards of the "Green Food Edible Fungi" (NY/T749-2003).