Nutritional Requirements for the Mycelial Biomass and Exopolymer Production by Hericium erinaceus CZ-2

Daming Huang¹, Fengjie Cui¹*, Yin Li², Zhicai Zhang¹, Jiewen Zhao¹, Xiaoming Han¹, Xiang Xiao¹, Jingya Qian¹, Qifei Wu¹ and Guoqiang Guan<sup>1

1</sup>Institute of Bioengineering, School of Food and Biological Technology, Jiangsu University, 212013 Zhenjiang, PR China
²Department of Plant Science, North Dakota State University, 58105 Fargo, USA

Article history:
Received August 26, 2006
Accepted March 2, 2007

Key words:
Hericium erinaceus, submerged culture, medium optimization, mycelial biomass, exopolymer, orthogonal array design method

Summary:
In this work, the effects of medium composition and fermentation parameters on the simultaneous production of mycelial biomass and exopolymer by medicinal mushroom Hericium erinaceus CZ-2 were investigated in shake flask cultures using one-factor-at-a-time method and orthogonal array design. Results showed that the most suitable carbon, nitrogen, mineral sources, and cofactors for the mycelial biomass and exopolymer production were: corn flour combined with 1 % glucose, yeast extract, KH₂PO₄ and corn steep liquor. The intuitive analysis of orthogonal array design results indicated that the effects of nutritional requirement on the mycelial growth of Hericium erinaceus CZ-2 were in regular sequence of corn flour combined with 1 % glucose > yeast extract > corn steep liquor > KH₂PO₄, and those on exopolymer production were in the order of corn flour combined with glucose > KH₂PO₄ > yeast extract > corn steep liquor. The maximal yield of mycelial biomass (16.07 g/L) was obtained when the composition of the culture medium was (in g/L): corn flour 30, glucose 10, yeast extract 3, KH₂PO₄ 1, CaCO₃ 0.5, and 15 mL/L of corn steep liquor; while the maximal exopolymer yield (1.314 g/L) was achieved when the composition of medium was (in g/L): corn flour 30, glucose 10, yeast extract 5, KH₂PO₄ 3, CaCO₃ 0.5, and 15 mL/L of corn steep liquor. In the 15-litre scale-up fermentation, the maximum mycelial biomass yield of 20.50 g/L was achieved using the optimized medium.

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