Studies on Biomass Production in Auricularia polytricha Collected from Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Auricularia polytricha (Mont) Saccardo, were found growing on decaying logs of wood in their large numbers within the marshy riverine ecosystem area of Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The sporophores of this edible mushroom were tissue cultured and biomass production in submerged liquid medium was assessed. This fungus produced best mycelial biomass (340 mg cm^-3) at 25°C after 15 days of incubation while no biomass was produced at 5, 45 and 50°C after 20 days. Likewise, very good biomass was produced at pH 6.5 after 10 days of incubation. Among the carbohydrate sources tested, glucose stimulated highest biomass yield of 375 mg cm^-3 at 1.6% concentration closely followed by fructose (350 mg cm^-3) at 1.8% concentration. All the nitrogen compounds investigated enhanced significant biomass production (p≤0.05). However, 0.8% of peptone stimulated the best biomass yield (320 mg cm^-3) followed by tryptophan (300 mg cm^-3) at 0.9% concentration. The volume of inoculum of A. polytricha that produced highest biomass of this fungus in liquid culture was 7.0 cm³. The implications of these findings were discussed.