Effects of microelemental fertilizers on yields, mineral element levels and nutritional compositions of the artificially cultivated Morchella conica

This study analyzed the effects of four microelemental fertilizers not only on growth rates and sclerotia formation of mycelia, but also the yields, amino acids contents and mineral elements of fruit body from artificially cultivated Morchella conica. Results showed that Fe·EDDHA had the strongest promoting effect on the mycelia growth, sclerotia formation and resulted in the highest yield, while CuSO4·5H2O resulted in an adverse effect. Fe·EDDHA, Nutriagent and ZnSO4·7H2O, respectively, increased the yields of morel's fruit bodies by 63.4%, 59.9% and 25.9% when compared with that of the control, but the yield of CuSO4·5H2O group was reduced by 19.3%. The total amino acids contents of Fe·EDDHA, Nutriagent and ZnSO4·7H2O groups were also significantly increased. Six microelements (Fe, Zn, B, Cu, Mn and Mo) and six heavy metals (Ni, As, Pb, Cr, Cd and Hg) were assayed and the highest Fe content was found in the Fe·EDDHA group, 7.10 times higher than that of the control group.