Production of liquid spawn of an edible mushroom, Sparassis latifolia by submerged fermentation and mycelial growth on pine wood sawdust

• Nutrient composition significantly affect mycelial morphology and biomass production of Sparassis latifolia.
• High yield of liquid spawn was achieved in medium including glucose and corn flour or glutinous rice flour.
• Liquid spawn of Sparassis latifolia led to quick mycelial growth in pine sawdust substrate as compared to sawdust spawn.

Rapid mycelial growth rate of liquid spawn could suppress contamination, which is significant to the mushroom industry. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of producing liquid spawn of an edible mushroom, Sparassis latifolia SP-C by submerged fermentation under controlled conditions and to evaluate its ability to colonise pine sawdust substrate. Uniform design was adopted to quantitatively analyze the effects of fermentation medium on mycilial biomass production from S. latifolia, three independent variables including glucose, corn flour and glutinous rice flour were studied. The optimal medium for maximum biomass production was glucose 10%, corn flour 3%, glutinous rice flour 3%, fish peptone 0.2% and KH2PO4 0.3%, it was incubated at 23 ± 2 °C with agitation rate of 150 rpm. The maximum S. latifolia SP-C biomass production of 11.96 g/L was achieved after 15 days of fermentation. The liquid spawn led to quick mycelial growth (1.69 mm/d) on sterile pine sawdust substrate compared to the traditionally sawdust spawn (1.23 mm/d).