Black termite mushroom has the scientific name Xerula radicata (or Oudemansila radicata), is an edible mushroom with medicinal properties and high nutritional value, grown widely in China, Korea, Thailand, and etc. This type of mushroom Contains a lot of oudenone, which is one of the important chemical pharmaceutical substances, effective in treating and inhibiting malignant tumors arising in tissues (such as connective tissue, bone, cartilage, or striated muscle). The nutritional composition of black termite mushrooms also contains calcium, phosphorus, iron, protein and other nutrients that are good for improving health, beneficial for people with diabetes, the elderly, etc. Eating black termite mushrooms often regularly can improve immunity against cancer cells, fight aging, and reduce blood sugar. In particular, black termite mushrooms can be used as functional foods.

Although it has high medicinal and economic value, black termite mushrooms are not commonly cultivated in our country. The effectiveness of black termite mushroom cultivation depends largely on the nutritional environment and coating substrate. Therefore, this research project focuses on investigating the influence of nutritional sources and coating substrates on the development of black termite fungus. Thereby determining the appropriate nutritional formula and coating substrate to produce high-yield black termite mushrooms, serving as a basis for the next steps to improve productivity and perfect the black termite mushroom farming process.

The results show that the content of rice bran and cornstarch has a throughout the process of cultivating black termite mushrooms. Thereby, three suitable formulas were identified for cultivating black termite mushrooms: sawdust supplemented with 5% rice bran + 5% cornstarch; sawdust supplemented with 10% rice bran + 3% cornstarch; sawdust supplemented with 20% rice bran + 1% cornstarch. These formulas give high yield and low infection rate, low silking time and fruiting formation time.

The results of the project also determined that the most suitable coating substrate for black termite mushroom cultivation is vermiculite stone. The optimal nutritional formula for the growth of black termite fungus is: sawdust supplemented with Superphosphate 1% + CaCO3 1% + white sugar 1% mixed with 5% rice bran + 5% cornstarch, combined with a Vermiculite stone coating substrate with yields 150,687 g/bag of embryos.