- W H Lai: Agro-Biotechnology Institute, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, c/o Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Lignosus rhinocerus is a macrofungus that belongs to Polyporaceae and is native to tropical regions. This highly priced mushroom has been used as folk medicine to treat diseases by indigenous people. As a preliminary study to develop a culture method for edible mushrooms, the cultural characteristics of L. rhinocerus were investigated in a range of culture media under different environmental conditions. Mycelial growth of this mushroom was compared on culture media composed of various carbon and nitrogen sources in addition to C/N ratios. The optimal conditions for mycelial growth were 30℃ at pH 6 and 7. Rapid mycelial growth of L. rhinocerus was observed on glucose-peptone and yeast extract peptone dextrose media. Carbon and nitrogen sources promoting mycelial growth of L. rhinocerus were glucose and potassium nitrate, respectively. The optimum C/N ratio was approximately 10 : 1 using 2% glucose supplemented as a carbon source in the basal media.