Planta Med 2010; 76 - P90
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1251852

Effects of Culture Conditions on the Mycelial Growth and Bioactive Metabolite Production of Cordyceps gunnii (berk.) Berk in the Medium of Radix astragali

ZY Zhu 1, 2, CL Si 1, 2, 3, LN Ding 1, Y Zhang 3, Q Yao 1, HY Liang 1, N Liu 1, J Chen 1, YM Zhang 4
  • 1Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Ministry of Education, College of Food Science and Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
  • 2State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
  • 3Tianjin Key Laboratory of Pulp & Paper, College of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
  • 4Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, Laboratoire de Chimie Organique (UMR CNRS 7611), Tour 44/45, C. 181, 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France

Cordyceps sinensis (Clavicipitaceae), a well-known tonic food or invigorant of ascomycete fungi with broad-spectrum medicinal properties, is widely used in China [1–2]. Cordyceps gunnii (berk.) Berk (C. gunnii), is also widely known as the Chinese rare caterpillar fungus and has similar pharmacological activities to C. sinensis. This study investigates the effects of culture conditions on the mycelial growth and bioactive metabolite production in the medium of Radix astragali (RA) of C. gunnii. The optimal temperature and initial pH for the production of both mycelial biomass, polysaccharide, adenosine and, in particular, cordycepin in flask cultures were found to be 22.8C and pH 5–6, respectively. The anti-tumor activity of the fermentation was investigated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The results showed that the product from culturing C. gunnii in RA medium had a better anti-tumor activity than that of culturing in synthetic medium. Acknowledgements: Financial support from Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin City (09JCZDJC21800, 08ZCGHHZ00800, 09JCYBJC 15800). Reference: [1] Hou AI, et al. (2008) Chem Res Chinese U 24(5): 584–587. [2] Wang BJ, et al. (2003) Chem Res Chinese U 19(1): 37–34.