Applied Science and Engineering Progress
Properties of Argon Plasma Jets and Their Application to Enhance the Mycelium Growth of Lion’s Mane (Yamabushitake) Mushroom
Abstract
Lion's Mane (LM) mushroom requires around 32-35 days for its mycelium to reach full growth. The reduction of their mycelial growth would improve the cultivation efficiency and reduce the operation cost. This research aimed to study the properties of the argon plasma jet and its application in promoting the mycelial growth of LM mushrooms. A plasma jet was generated by varying the electrical frequency between 5 and 12 kHz and the argon gas flow rate of 5-8 L/min. Using a 9 kHz frequency with a gas flow rate of 7 L/min resulted in the maximum electrical power and the longest plasma beam length. An electron temperature range of 0.29-0.37 eV was observed when the electrical frequency was 6-12 kHz with the argon flow rate of 7 L/min. The mycelium growth of the LM mushroom was stimulated with different treatment times, 0-300 s. A morphological study by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) showed that plasma treatment could stimulate mycelium branching and formation, while treatments longer than 240 s resulted in severe burning and damage to the mycelium. During the cultivation period of 26 days, the plasma treatment at 30 s and 90 s indicated the highest average growth rate of mycelium at 0.41 cm/day, which was significantly faster than the control (0.18 cm/day). The mycelium growth enhancement could be due to the oxidative stress from reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), which stimulate the formation of sclerotia structures and increase the survival rate of the mushroom cells. The results obtained demonstrated that plasma jet technology is an effective option to accelerate the mycelial growth of the LM mushroom.
Keywords
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DOI: 10.14416/j.asep.2026.09.003
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