Production and Properties of Polysaccharides from Mycelia of Three Ganoderma Species

Phannacological research has shown that extract of certain Ganoderma species have medical effects including anti-tumor, anti-virus, lowering blood fat and regulating blood pressure. One of the major ingredients of the water extract of Ganoderma fruit bodies is the polysaccharides and these are the polysaccharides which have been studied more extensively. However, new findings have recommended producing the Ganoderma mycelium instead of the fruiting bodies because of the several advantages in producing the fungal mycelium. Thus, this project was focused on the production and properties of polysaccharides from the Ganoderma mycelium. Mycelia of three Ganoderma species (G. luddum, G. tropicum and G. tsugae) were inoculated into five types of liquid growth media (barley extract, Fergus media, Mizuno media, PDB and soya bean extract) for 15 days at 25°C. Among these media tested, soya bean extract supported good growth of the fungal mycelium of all the three species of Ganoderma. Increasing the soya bean concentration resulted in a gradual increase in the growth of the fungal mycelium as well as the amount of the polysaccharides produced. Yield of total carbohydrates produced by the mycelium in all the three species reached its maximum level when incubated at 25°C for 15 days. A whole range of different polysaccharides with different molecular weights and linkage types were obtained from the culture filtrate, homogenized mycelium fraction as well as the hot water extraction of mycelium harvested at different periods of incubation. Polysaccharide with B-(1,3) linkages that were reported to have pharmaceutical value were identified. These polysaccharides were found to have a common molecular weight of 27,000 Da.

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