Promotive effect of the hot water-soluble fraction from corn fiber on vegetative mycelial growth in edible mushrooms

Abstract

Corn fiber (CNF) is an abundant by-product of the wet corn milling process used to produce corn starch. In light of the need to recycle organic wastes, the effects of adding a hot water-soluble fraction (HWSF) from CNF to a medium on the vegetative mycelial growth of nine edible mushrooms such as Lentinula edodes and Pholiota nameko were investigated. The results showed that the mycelial growth of these fungi was markedly increased (1.4–9.5 times that of the control) by adding 5%–20% CNF-HWSF to the medium. These promotive effects were also apparent on mycorrhizal mushrooms, such as Tricholoma matsutake (3.3-fold) and Lyophyllium shimeji (3.7-fold). The promotive effects on mycelial growth were shown in the low-molecular-weight fractions (molecular weight <500 daltons) prepared from CNF-HWSF. The promotive actions were more effective on slow-growing mushrooms (L. edodes and P. nameko) than on rapidly growing mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus and Flammulina velutipes). The results obtained in this experiment suggest that CNF-HWSF can be used as a promotive substance for cultivating edible mushrooms.