The earth was carefully removed from the lowest part of the stipe with knife or through dusting so as to save the fresh samples from getting too dirty. Care was also taken not to remove or damage any part of the mushroom sample. The non-fleshy mushrooms were collected, wrapped with tissue paper and kept inside a sterilized polythene bag. The heaviest and the lightest were placed on the bottom and top, respectively of the polythene bag in order to prevent damage of the samples.