Earticle

The choice of the culture medium is an important factor for the mass production of mycelia in submerged cultures. The influence of liquid medium on the mycelial dry weight of Paecilomyces tenuipes was investigated in this study. The regression equation is expressed as Y=-1292.94187+17.78612X1+18.92425X2+2.11464X3-0.019375X1X2-0.006276X1X3+0.008177X2X3- 0.070169X1 2-0.292175X2 2-0.008818X3 2, where Y represents the value of the mycelial dry weight (g/L), X1 is the particle size of wood sawdust in liquid medium (mesh), X2 is the concentration of the wood sawdust in liquid medium, and X3 is incubation time (h). The medium was optimized using a response surface methodology, and the optimal medium contained 30 g of wood sawdust (140 mesh), 20 g of glucose, and 10 g/L of peptone. Under these conditions, the mycelial dry weight reached 38.1 g/L (actual value). The culture medium containing wood sawdust is simple and easy to use, highly efficient, and eco-friendly, and its effectiveness in large preparations of P. tenuipes mycelia with low material costs has been demonstrated.

This study was performed to find a medium material that can replace Douglas fir sawdust and rice bran in spawn media for growing spawn directly in the oyster mushroom farm. The pH range, total nitrogen source, and total carbon source of the mixed spawn medium were 5.3~5.9, 0.65~1.11%, and 47.0~49.1%, respectively. The C/N ratio was high in the mixed medium of poplar sawdust, with a low total nitrogen content. The protein content was high in the medium containing fermented Douglas fir sawdust. The mycelium growth rate was higher in the medium containing wheat bran than that in the medium containing rice bran. The highest yield per bottle was observed with poplar sawdust, oak sawdust, and rice bran mixed at a ratio of 40:40:20 (v/v/v); however, there was no significant difference observed in terms of productivity with the other treatments. Thus, when growing sawdust spawns in farms, it is efficient to use poplar sawdust, oak sawdust, and wheat bran, which are also easily available, instead of Douglas fir sawdust and rice bran.

This study investigated the changes in the antioxidant activity, nitrite scavenging activity, and β-glucan content of processed raw materials (Pleurotus eryngii, Pleurotus ostreatus, Lentinula edodes, and Flammulina velutipes) brought about by storage at room temperature (20-25oC) and low temperature (4oC). The results indicated that DPPH free radical scavenging activity was the lowest in air-dried and roasted samples that were stored at room temperature,k with the exception of the airdried samples of P. eryngii and L. edodes. For total polyphenol contents, all roasted samples of the edible mushrooms stored at room and low temperature decreased compared with the samples pre-storage, except for the air-dried samples of P. eryngii, P. ostreatus, and L. edodes. Furthermore, the ferric reducing antioxidant power and reducing power of the air-dried and roasted samples stored at room temperature and low temperature tended to increase compared to that before storage. Moreover, the β- glucan content in the air-dried and roasted samples stored at room temperature was significantly lower compared to that before storage, as well as to that in the samples stored at low temperature (p<0.05). The results of this study may help predict the degree to which biological activities in processed edible mushrooms change when stored at room temperature and/or low temperature conditions.

This study investigated the anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-obesity effects of Sparassis latifolia (S. latifolia) fruiting body powder in rats fed with a high fat and cholesterol diet (HFD). Rats were fed a normal control diet (ND), an HFD, an HFD supplemented with 5% fruiting body powder of S. latifolia (HFD+SL), or an HFD supplemented with 0.03% simvastatin (HFD+SS), for 6 weeks. The HFD group demonstrated considerable increase in body weight gain, the food efficiency ratio (FER), and plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels, compared to the ND group. In contrast, the HFD+SL and HFD+SS groups showed significantly reduced body weight gain, food intake, and plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels compared to the HFD group. In particular, the HFD+SL and HFD+SS diets significantly suppressed the occurrence of non-alcoholic fat deposits in the liver. Taken together, these results suggest that dietary supplementation of the fruiting body powder of S. latifolia in an HFD could lower the risks of hyperlipidemia, atherogenesis, and obesity and may be used as a functional food to manage cardiovascular disease and fecal lipid and cholesterol levels.

The genome sequence of various Flammulina species has recently been reported, thereby revealing a diverse genetic repertoire. In this study, we identified laccase genes and analyzed their structural characteristics in Flammulina elastica (F. elastica) genome. Through genome analysis and bioinformatics approaches, three laccase genes (Fe-lac1, -lac2, and -lac3) were identified, ranging from 1,548 to 1,602 bp in length. These genes contained a copper ion-binding region with ten histidine residues and one cysteine residue and a disulfide bond-forming region with four cysteine residues. Full-length cDNA sequencing analysis revealed that laccase genes contain 12 to 16 introns and signal peptides between 17 and 22 bp in the N-terminus. Structural characterization of the laccase genes identified in this study should help in better understanding the biomass decomposition of F. elastica.

The aim of the study was to obtain the extracts of various native wild mushrooms and select the useful resources though biological activity evaluation. The anti-oxidant potential, nitrite scavenging activity, and β-glucan content of wild mushrooms collected from Eumseong and Bonghwa in Korea were investigated. Based on the results of this study, Ganoderma lingzhi (OK1362) showed the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity (73.2%), ferric reducing anti-oxidant power (0.134), reducing power (0.155), nitrite scavenging activity (53.6%), total polyphenol content (28.9 mg GAE/g), flavonoid content (10.0 mg QE/g), and β-glucan content (25.2%) when compared to other wild mushrooms sampled in this study. In addition, it was confirmed that Perenniporia fraxinea (OK1360), Amanita sp. (OK1398), and Russula sp. (OK1406) had relatively high anti-oxidant and nitrite scavenging potentials. In conclusion, our results can provide fundamental data for extracting beneficial compounds from wild mushrooms.

The mineral contents of domestic and Chinese Sarcodon aspratus were analyzed for comparing the differences in the mineral contents according to the production sites. The mineral contents of 10 domestic and 10 Chinese S. aspratus were analyzed by using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer and an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The sodium, magnesium, potassium, and calcium contents of domestic S. aspratus were 170.3±44.0 mg/kg, 81.3±20.8 mg/kg, 1,123.8±274.3 mg/kg, and 12.1±4.1 mg/kg, respectively, while those of Chinese S. aspratus were 112.2±40.8 mg/kg, 297.8±20.9 mg/kg, 10,938.4± 2,914.1 mg/kg, and 52.5±27.7 mg/kg, respectively. There were no significant differences in the micro mineral contents and hazardous heavy metal contents between domestic and Chinese S. aspratus, while there was a significant difference in the macro mineral contents between domestic and Chinese S. aspratus. Thus, the comparative analyses of the sodium, magnesium, potassium, and calcium contents of many domestic and Chinese S. aspratus are required to determine their production sites in the future .

The hot-water extracts of four strains of Volvariella volvacea [Vv (KMCC04386), Vv-Chi (KMCC04382), V9-21 (KMCC04380), and VG-19 (KMCC05115)] were prepared to determine their antioxidant activities, β-glucan content, and nutritional content. Among the four V. volvacea strains, Vv strain showed the highest DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity (23.7%). The highest total polyphenol and total flavonoid contents (8.17 mg y/g and 3.46 mg QE/g, respectively) were observed in the Vv-Chi strain. The ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and reducing power were significantly higher in the Vv-Chi strain compared to those in the other V. volvacea strains (p<0.05). There were no significant differences in the nitrite scavenging activity among the four different strains (p<0.05). The β-glucan content in the four V. volvacea strains ranged from 15.13–16.07%, and the VG-19 strain had the highest β-glucan content (15.73%). The VG-19 strain also had the highest total amino acid (986.8 mg/kg) and essential amino acid (369.3 mg/kg) contents among the four V. volvacea strains. The results of this study showed that the Vv-Chi strain exhibited the highest antioxidant activity, while the β-glucan and nutritional contents were higher in the VG-19 strain compared to those in the other strains of V. volvacea.

We monitored the occurrence of fungal species on bed-logs inoculated with oak mushroom (Lentinula edodes) and the environmental conditions of temperature and humidity in the cultivation houses during monsoon. Six fungal species, viz., Cladosporium sp., C. cladosporioides, C. anthropophilum, Pleosporales sp., Trichoderma harzianum, and Acremonium sp., wereidentified from the cultivation houses located in Jangheung, Jeonnam province. This identification was confirmed by performing nucleotide sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer and 28S rDNA regions. Our study presents significant findings that can help in preventing fungal damage induced by inappropriate temperature and humidity in oak mushroom cultivation houses.

We analyzed the relationship between the main chemical properties (pH, total nitrogen content, total carbon content, and CN ratio) of sterilized medium and mushroom yields in 1 kg bag culture of Pleurotus ostreatus. The mushroom yields appeared to be highly correlated with the pH, total nitrogen content, and CN ratio, and were the highest under a total nitrogen content of 2.0–2.2% and a the CN ratio of 20–22.5. However, of the three parameters, total nitrogen content showed the highest correlation with the mushroom yield. The coefficient of determination(r2) between the total nitrogen content and the sum of the yield was 0.931, while that of the pH and CN ratio was relatively low. The nitrogen content of the medium was the most important factor in determining the yield of oyster mushrooms.

To develop a method for the differentiation of Pleurotus ostratus cultivars, the multiplex-simple sequence repeat (SSR) primer set based on the SSRs obtained from whole genomic DNA sequence analysis was designed with two polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer sets. These SSR primer sets were employed to distinguish 10 cultivars and strains. Twenty polymorphic markers were selected based on the genotyping results. PCR with each primer produced 1–4 distinct bands ranging in size from 150 to 350 bp, which was within the expected range. However, since a sole SSR marker was unable to detect polymorphisms in every cultivar, multiplex PCRs with composite PCR primer sets were employed. The multiplex primer, “166+115,” completely discriminated 12 cultivars and strains with 40 loci, which were 12 more than the simple arithmetic addition of each locus of the primers 115 and 166. These results might be useful to provide an efficient method for the differentiation of P. ostreatus cultivars with separate PCRs for the quality control of spawn and protection of breeders’ rights.