Research Article
Blaz Gerbec, Eva Tavča
Abstract
Hericium erinaceus is a medicinal mushroom producing biologically active metabolite erinacin A. In this research we compared fungal growth and metabolite production in different reactor types and different substrates with added casein peptone and NaCl. Cultivation of fungal biomass was performed in glass jars and horizontal stirred tank reactor. The cultivation in reactor was carried out at 24°C and airflow 5 L/min. Periodical mixing of N = 80 rpm, was used. Solid state substrate based on mixture of husked millet and paddy millet was used. For simultaneous determination of erinacine A and ergosterol contents in a single sample new analytical method was developed. The amount of biomass obtained in glass jars averaged at 100 mg/g ± 12 mg/g, while in horizontal mixing bioreactor it easily raised up to 350 mg/g. The highest erinacin A concentration was detected in substrate with 0.56% NaCl and 3.4% casein peptone content.