Comparison of β-glucan Contents of Lentinula edodes Cultivated on Sawdust according to Medium Composition and Fruiting Temperature

Young-Ae  Park1   Won-Chull  Bak1   Kang-Hyeon  Ka1   Chang-Duck  Koo2,*   

1Division of Wood Chemistry and Microbiology, National Institute of Forest Science
2Department of Forest Science, Chungbuk National University

Abstract

Lentinula edodes is an edible mushroom that contains a β-glucan called lentinan, which has antitumor and immune- enhancing properties. In the present study, the β-glucan contents of L. edodes mushrooms cultivated on sawdust with different nutritional supplements and fruiting temperatures were measured using a commercial β-glucan assay kit purchased from Megazyme (Bray, Ireland). The weight loss of sawdust media and the yield of fruiting bodies showed similar trends, but the yield was more closely associated with the nutritional supplements used than the weight loss of sawdust media was. The β-glucan contents of L. edodes were 39.5-42.1%, except in the bean curd refuse + CaCl2 supplementation group (50.4%). Furthermore, the β-glucan content decreased with increasing temperatures and was 42.4% at a low fruiting temperature.

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant from the Golden Seed Project of ‘Breeding of new strains of shiitake for cultivar protection and substitution of import (213003-04- 4-SBH10), National Institute of Forest Science, Republic of Korea.

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