Tremella mushroom industry thrives in county of SE China's Fujian

Photo shows a new variety of tremella mushrooms cultivated in Gutian county, Ningde city, southeast China's Fujian Province. (People's Daily Online/Li Weiyi)

Gutian county in Ningde city, southeast China's Fujian Province produces 396,000 tonnes of tremella mushrooms annually, accounting for over 90 percent of the country's total.

The edible fungus industry, led by tremella mushrooms, has injected fresh vitality into Gutian, which has become the largest tremella mushroom production base in China.

A new tremella strain selected by the Gutian Edible Fungi Research Institute under the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University and developed through space radiation breeding aboard China's Shenzhou-16 mission demonstrated higher yield and richer active ingredients, said Sun Shujing, head and a professor of the institute. The institute, jointly established by the university and Gutian county in 2013, is dedicated to developing mushroom spawn and introducing new varieties and techniques.

Photo shows mushroom sheds under solar panels in Gutian county, Ningde city, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Photo courtesy of the media convergence center of Gutian county)

The total phenol and flavonoid content of the new strain has increased by more than 50 percent, and the fresh weight of the new strain is over 10 percent higher than the original, Sun added.

Over 60 years of research and development have revolutionized the cultivation of tremella mushrooms in Gutian. What began with traditional wood-based cultivation methods, constrained by natural conditions and high costs, has evolved dramatically.

"In the 1960s, Gutian pioneered the cultivation of tremella mushrooms on logs in China, but the yield remained disappointingly low," said Zhang Xiao, director of the county's edible fungus industry development center.

Photo shows harvested tremella mushrooms in Gutian county, Ningde city, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Photo courtesy of the media convergence center of Gutian county)

Key milestones include local farmer Yao Shuxian's breakthrough in 1977 with the techniques of growing tremella mushrooms in bottles, which dramatically increased the yield and reduced growing cycles from seven months to just 40 days. In 1979, Dai Weihao, a native of Gutian, replaced expensive glass containers with cheap plastic bags, further reducing costs.

In 1983, Yao and Chen Huagui produced larger and higher-quality tremella mushrooms with higher yield and better taste by using cotton seed shells as the growing medium.

Through relentless innovation, Gutian has become China's largest commercial production base for tremella mushrooms. The county has successfully collaborated with universities to develop resilient, specialized strains adaptable to various cultivation materials.

A livestreamer sells tremella mushrooms produced in Gutian county, Ningde city, southeast China's Fujian Province via a livestream session. (Photo courtesy of Gutian County Shifangtian Trading Co., Ltd.)

In recent years, Gutian's cultivation of tremella mushrooms has become a high-tech affair, with smart mushroom sheds that automatically adjust temperature and humidity.

Gutian has leveraged e-commerce to expand sales channels of its edible fungi including tremella mushrooms.

"Over the past six years since the establishment of our company, we have attracted more than 500 high-quality products from 74 enterprises and cooperatives, including 27 e-commerce companies, with the annual online sales exceeding 500 million yuan (about $68.78 million)," said Hu Jinquan, deputy general manager of Gutian County Shifangtian Trading Co., Ltd.