Ganoderma lucidum Mycelia Mass and Bioactive Compounds Production through Grape Pomace and Cheese Whey Valorization

Abstract

Numerous compounds obtained from the medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum have evidenced renowned bioactive characteristics. Controlled fermentation to generate fungal mycelia confers several advantages, specifically when the valorization of agro-industrial streams as fermentation feedstocks is included. Submerged fermentation of a newly isolated Greek strain of G. lucidum was performed using conventional synthetic media and, also, grape pomace extract (GPE) and cheese whey permeate (CWP) under static and shaking conditions. Under shaking conditions, maximum biomass with GPE and supplementation with organic nitrogen reached 17.8 g/L. The addition of an elicitor in CWP resulted in a significant improvement in biomass production that exceeded synthetic media. Overall, agitation demonstrated a positive impact on biomass productivity and, therefore, on process optimization. Crude intracellular and extracellular polysaccharides were extracted and evaluated regarding antioxidant activity and polysaccharide and protein content. FTIR analysis confirmed the preliminary chemical characterization of the crude extracts. This study introduces the design of a bioprocessing scenario to utilize food industry by-products as onset feedstocks for fungal bioconversions to obtain potential bioactive molecules within the concept of bioeconomy.

Valorization of Grape Pomace for Trametes versicolor Mycelial Mass and Polysaccharides Production

“…A strain specificity was shown since, depending on the strain, biomass production increased or decreased compared with the synthetic media. However, the effect of agitation on the consumption rate of sugars and process productivity was evident in the case of G. lucidum [31].…”

“…In our previous studies, GPE extract was evaluated as a substrate for the cultivation of Phellinus sp., Sepedonium sp. and Ganoderma lucidum strains [13,31]. A strain specificity was shown since, depending on the strain, biomass production increased or decreased compared with the synthetic media.…”