Bioscience Evidence 2026, Vol.16, No.4, 316-328 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/be 326 precise control of substrate moisture content, pH, sterilization procedures, and mycelial cultivation stages to ensure stable bag maturation and improve subsequent fruiting management efficiency. 7 Future Development Directions of Substrate Management 7.1 Sustainable and circular substrate systems An important future direction for shiitake substrate development is the transition from traditional dependence on woody resources toward regional and circular resource utilization systems. Hardwood sawdust has long been a fundamental material for shiitake production because of its stable lignocellulosic structure and good compatibility with shiitake mycelial growth. However, with the continuous expansion of the shiitake industry, pressure on high-quality sawdust supply has increased, and some regions have experienced rising costs and unstable raw material availability. Therefore, increasing the utilization of agricultural and forestry by-products while maintaining substrate performance will become an important strategy for future industry development. Future resource utilization should also extend to the recycling of spent mushroom substrates after production. Large amounts of spent mushroom substrate generated during shiitake cultivation still contain partially degraded cellulose, lignin, and mineral nutrients. Direct disposal not only increases environmental pressure but also causes resource waste. Spent shiitake substrate can be used as an important raw material for preparing nitrogen-doped biochar, which has potential applications in environmental remediation, indicating its high value for resource utilization (Grimm et al., 2023). Spent substrate can also be used for organic fertilizer production, soil improvement, and agricultural recycling. Therefore, future development of the shiitake industry should expand from focusing only on “substrate input” toward whole-life-cycle management, establishing a circular system of “agricultural residues → cultivation substrate → shiitake production → spent substrate utilization.” 7.2 Precision substrate management and digital optimization Another important future direction of shiitake substrate management is the transition from experience-based decisions toward data-driven management. Currently, many small-scale producers still rely on visual observation of mycelial color, bag hardness, and fruiting status to determine production conditions. Although this approach is based on practical experience, it has limitations, including strong subjectivity, poor reproducibility, and insufficient consistency among production batches. With the development of large-scale cultivation, substrate management requires more accurate recording and analysis of relationships among different factors. In recent years, artificial intelligence and predictive modeling technologies have begun to be applied to shiitake substrate optimization. Safaie et al. (2024) used a multilayer perceptron combined with a genetic algorithm to predict mycelial growth performance under different substrate combinations. The model achieved prediction accuracies of 92% and 97% for mycelial running length and growth speed, respectively. In the future, substrate screening may gradually shift from traditional large-scale experimental comparisons toward model-assisted decision-making based on production data. 7.3 Integration of substrate management with quality-oriented production An important trend in future shiitake industry development is the shift of substrate management objectives from simply pursuing high yield toward balancing yield, quality, and market value. Future substrate optimization should move from identifying the “highest-yield formula” toward developing “quality-oriented substrate formulas.” Different markets have different requirements for shiitake quality. Fresh mushroom markets mainly focus on cap color, morphological integrity, flesh thickness, and product uniformity. In contrast, dried mushroom markets place greater emphasis on aroma formation, rehydration performance, nutrient retention, and processing stability. Therefore, future substrate design should determine optimization targets according to product positioning rather than evaluating substrate performance only based on yield.
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