Cordyceps militaris is widely used in China, Korea, and other Asian countries as both a traditional medicinal ingredient and an edible fungus. This study aimed to optimize the growth conditions and fruiting body production of C. militaris by investigating various culture media and physical parameters such as pH, aeration, illumination, temperature, spawn materials, and oat–sawdust-based substrate formulations. After a 7-day incubation period, oats with a pH of 6.0, under sealed and illuminated conditions at 32°C, demonstrated the most effective mycelial growth. Substrates consisting of 70% oat and 30% sawdust had the shortest incubation time of 30.5 days for fruiting body formation. The basidiospores showed a typical germination pattern where the sporidium produced a single germ tube that elongated, and branched to form monokaryotic primary mycelia. In conclusion, using oats as a substrate in the cultivation of C. militaris could reduce production costs and help protect the environment.

The oyster mushrooms have known to be a major product in Gyeonggi-do, with production accounting for 69% of the entire country. The ‘Daeseon’ cultivar, which has white and straight stem, was developed. This cultivar was developed by mating monokaryons isolated from the ‘Heuktari’ and ‘Hwaseong-2ho’ varieties. The optimum temperature for the mycelial growth was 26~32oC on PDA medium and that for the primordia formation and the growth of fruit body of ‘Daeseon’ was 16~20oC on sawdust media. It took 35 days to complete spawn running, 3 days for finish primordia formation, and 4 days for finish fruit body growth in the bottle culture. It has shallow funnel-shaped pileus and a white straight stipe. The yield per bottle was 201 g/1,100 ml and was 16% higher than that of control cultivar ‘Suhan-1ho’. Based on above results, we expect this cultivar to be suitable for small packaging.

Cordyceps militaris (C. militaris) is a unique and valuable medicinal fungus belonging to the Cordyceps species. C. militaris is the only fungus that contains cordycepin which is a biologically active compound. In previous studies, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are known to be effective in increasing cordycepin content, but metabolic profiling of LED-stimulated C. militaris has not been confirmed. Metabolic profiling is essential to understanding the metabolic regulation of cordycepin. This study studied the physiologically active secondary metabolites of C. militaris according to the presence or absence of stimulation of LEDs through GC-MS analysis. Most of the metabolites were detected in both samples, but there was a clear difference in the detected concentration. In particular, C. militaris had a significant difference in amino acid levels when stimulated with LEDs. Our results suggested that LEDs could stimulate amino acid synthesis in C. militaris mycelium to increase the cordycepin content.

Roridin E, a constituent of Podostroma cornu-damae, has excellent medicinal properties and exhibits powerful anticancer effects. However, being a poisonous mushroom, P. cornu-damae is difficult to find in its natural environment. Therefore, only a limited amount of roridin E is isolated from P. cornu-damae. We isolated roridin E from mycelial culture medium of P. cornu-damae and examined its effects on five breast cancer cell lines. The purity of the isolated roridin E was 96%. It exhibited anticancer effects on all five breast cancer cell lines, with an IC50 of at least 0.0006 mg/L. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the investigation of effects of roridin E isolated from the mycelium of P. cornu-damae mushrooms on five breast cancer cell lines. However, safety issues should be investigated and addressed in future studies before roridin E is used in clinical settings.

The oyster mushroom is a widely cultivated edible mushroom in Korea. It is a regionally specialized crop in Gyeonggi-do, where 68% of the national production is produced. The present study was conducted to develop a new, highquality cultivar with stable cultivation. ‘Manseon’ is a new variety of oyster mushroom suitable for bottle culture. It was produced by mating monokaryons isolated from ‘HB-18’ and ‘P15159-16’. The optimal temperature for ‘Manseon’ mycelial growth was 26–29 °C on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium and for primordia formation and the growth of fruit bodies the optimal temperature was 18–19 °C on sawdust medium. Spawn running required 30 d, primordia formation required 4 d, and fruit body growth in the bottle culture required 4 d. Regarding the characteristics of the fruit bodies, the pilei were round and dark grayish brown, stipe color was white, and stipe shape was short and thick. The yield per bottle was 192.7 g/1,100 cc, which was 9% higher than that of the control strain (Suhan-1ho). The physical properties of springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess, and brittleness of stipe tissue were 87.9%, 77.4%, 445.1 kgf, and 389.6 kgf, respectively.

Volvariella bombycinais an edible mushroom commercially cultivated in Korea and other countries. In this study, the culture characteristics and optimal growth conditions of milky mushroom strains were determined. The growth temperature and pH range of V. bombycinawas extensively investigated between 15 and 35oC and pH 3–11. For efficient cultivation, 20 types of nutrient sources were selected, specifically, 21 carbon sources, 6 organic nitrogen sources, 7 inorganic nitrogen sources, 13 amino acids, 9 organic acids, and 13 inorganic salts. The impact of each of the selected nutrition sources and their concentration on growth was investigated. The optimum temperature and pH were determined to be 30oC and pH 8.0, respectively. The optimum concentration of medium elements required for mycelial growth of V. bombycinawas determined to be as follows: carbon source, 0.7% Soluble starch; organic nitrogen source, 0.7% Soytone; inorganic nitrogen source, 1.0% (NH4)2C4H4O6; amino acid, 0.1% cysteine; organic acid, 0.07% lactic acid; and inorganic salt, 0.07 mM CaCl2.

This study investigated the culture characteristics of Cryptoporus volvatus, whichis grow naturally in Korea, to determine the suitable environmental conditions for its cultivation. The physiological characteristics of the mycelia were assessed according to the cultivation conditions, to determine the optimal conditions for artificial cultivation. The visual characteristics of the hyphae of Cryptoporus volvatus KACC52303 included an irregular and uneven surface and a fuzzy or cotton-like texture. Under the microscope, its microstructure showed pre-chlamydospore formation, but no clamps were seen. The appropriate culture temperature was found to be a medium/high temperature of approximately 25–30oC, and the optimal pH was found to have a wide range from weakly acidic (pH 4) to neutral (pH 7). In the optimal nutrient source experiment, hyphal growth was shown to be fair in a mixed medium with 2.5% dextrin as the carbon source and 0.1% yeast extract as the organic nitrogen source. Among the various amino acids, organic acids, and inorganic salts tested, the fastest hyphal growth was observed in the presence of leucine, acetic acid or gluconic acid, and KCl or KH2PO4, respectively. The column test showed that the best mycelial growth occurred in a mixed medium of 80% pine sawdust, 10% rice bran, and 10% corncob sawdust.

Bio-based alternative leathers may be produced from biomass fiber, protein polymers, bacterial cellulose, and mushroom mycelia. Of these components, mushroom mycelia are of greatest interest. In this study, the potential of Fomes fomentariusas a mushroom mycelial mat was confirmed, and the optimal strain for the development of the mycelial mat was determined. Moreover, the quality of the mycelial mat was improved by identifying an efficient culture method to increase productivity. Mutant strains whose independence was verified were obtained by treatment with gamma irradiation under various conditions. Biofilm formation by the resulting strains was examined in sawdust and liquid media and the characteristics of the biofilms were analyzed. The biofilm of the mutant strains showed results that were similar to or better than the biofilms of longevity and cypress mushrooms. These findings are expected to be utilized in future research aimed at discovering new biomaterials using mushroom mycelia.

This study was conducted to investigate the growth and antioxidant activity of Pleurotus ostreatus mycelia grown in medium supplemented with Aronia. The diameter and dry weight of the mycelia were increased in the medium supplemented with Aronia compared with the untreated medium. The total polyphenol content of mycelia grown in medium supplemented with Aronia and untreated medium was 6.54 mg GAE/g and 5.77 mg GAE/g, respectively. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity of mycelia grown in medium supplemented with Aronia and untreated medium was 61.81% and 49.65%, respectively. Moreover, the 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging activity of mycelia grown in medium supplemented with Aronia and untreated medium was 59.83% and 52.66%, respectively. These results confirmed that P. ostreatus mycelial growth and antioxidant activity were increased when Aronia was added to the culture medium.

This study was conducted to reduce the phenomenon of the biased cultivation of certain mushroom varieties and to develop a competitive variety of Grifola frondosa. We developed the first Korean white commercial mushroom strain, ‘Bakyeon’, by crossing monokaryons derived from brown strains. We have collected and tested the characteristics of mushrooms from domestic and international genetic resources since 2018. We bred the unique domestic variety, ‘Bakyeon’, which has the following characteristics. The optimal temperature for mycelial growth was 25~28oC and the optimal temperature for fruit body growth was 16~18oC. The new variety was similar to the control variety (Daebak) in terms of the pileus, which formed a pine cone shape, and the number of days of cultivation. The yield was 94.1 g/bottle, which was 23% lower than the 108.5 g/bottle yield of the control variety. When incubating the parent and control varieties, the replacement line was clear. Moreover, polymerase chain reaction analysis of mycelial DNA resulted in different band patterns between the parent and control varieties, confirming the hybrid species.