Culture conditions for mycelial growth of eight Philippine wild strains of tiger sawgill mushroom, Lentinus tigrinus

Abstract

Lentinus tigrinus is a wild edible and medicinal mushroom with potential culinary and pharmaceutical applications. In the present work, we evaluated the different culture media, pH and physical conditions such as aeration, illumination and temperature for maximum mycelial growth of eight L. tigrinus strains. Mycelial growth of the eight strains respond differently to the nutritional and physical factors. All strains showed maximum mycelial growth on coconut water gulaman (CWG), except TLLt 3, which favored potato dextrose agar (PDA) and malt extract agar (MEA). TLLt 1, 5, 6, 7 and 8 mycelia luxuriantly grew at pH 5.0-8.0 whereas TLLt 2 preferred pH 5.0-7.0, and TLLt 3 and 4 favored pH 5.0-6.5. Sealed condition was found to be more suitable for TLLt 1 mycelia while no significant difference was noted between the two aeration conditions for the mycelial growth of other seven strains. Both TLLt 1 and 2 mycelia favorably grew in lighted condition while the other six favorably grew in both lighted and dark conditions. Room temperature (30⁰C) recorded the fastest mycelial growth fo all strains, but found comparable to air-conditioned temperature (23⁰C) for the growth of TLLt 3, 6 and 8 mycelia. Therefore, mycelial growth of L. tigrinus on the different nutritional and physical parameters may vary depending on the strain type.