Effects of different nitrogen sources on production of polysaccharides by Agaricus blazei

Mushroom polysaccharides offer a lot of hope for cancer patients and sufferers of many devastating diseases. A variety of polysaccharides from a number of mushroom varieties have been demonstrated to enhance the immune system. Yield and functionally of polysaccharides by fermentation are highly dependent on their culture conditions, such as different culture compositions and environmental parameter (1).

In this study the effects of different Nitrogen sources including; yeast extract, Mycological peptone, poly peptone, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate and ammonium oxalate in two different media (Complex and synthetic liquid culture) were investigated. For the determination of polysaccharides produced by Agaricus blazei Murrill the total polysaccharides which were precipitated by absolute alcohol were weighed. The experiments showed that the highest growth and polysaccharide production were obtained when yeast extract used as nitrogen source. The concentration of polysaccharide in both complex and synthetic media when yeast extract was used were similar. The lowest growth and productivity were also seen in medium containing ammonium sulfate.

References: 1) Shu CH, Lin K-J, and Wen B-J (2004)J Chem Technol Biotechnol 79: 998–1002.