EFFECT OF PHYSICO-CHEMICAL FACTORS AND SEMI-SYNTHETIC MEDIA ON VEGETATIVE GROWTH OF NEOLENTINUS KAUFFMANII AN EDIBLE MUSHROOM FROM KANYAKUMARI DISTRICT

Abstract

Neolentinus kauffmanii (A.H. Smith) were found growing on decaying logs of wood in their large numbers within the kothaiyar forest area of Kanyakumari district, Tamilnadu, India. The present study was aimed to investigate the effect of different semi-synthetic growth media, pH, temperature, carbon, nitrogen and amino acids on vegetative growth of N. kauffmanii. The best mycelial extensions were observed on Malt-yeast agar and Potato-dextrose agar respectively. This fungus produced best mycelial biomass (301 mg/ cm³) at 25°C after 17 days of incubation while less biomass was produced at 20°C and 40°C after 17^th day. Likewise, very good biomass was produced at pH 6.5 after 17^th day of incubation. Among the carbohydrate sources tested, fructose stimulated highest biomass yield of 328 mg/cm³ at 1% concentration closely followed by sucrose (307 mg/cm³). All the nitrogen compounds investigated enhanced significant biomass production 0.5% of peptone stimulated the best biomass yield (343 mg/cm³) followed by beef extract (326 mg/cm³) at 0.5% concentration, different amino acid tested glycine (314 mg/cm³) supported the maximum growth. The implications of these findings were discussed.