Ji Zhang
Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Hepatol Gastroint Dis
In recent years, natural resources are attracting more attention due to their huge potential in discovery/development of novel bioactive compounds. Mushrooms and their metabolites have made them ideal candidates for health supplement due to beneficial effects. However, only limited mushrooms and compounds have been discovered and applied in nutraceutical industry compared with abundant natural resources. In our study, mono-culture and mixed-culture of mycelia of medicinal mushrooms, three edible mushrooms and 11 wild-type mushroom strains isolated in Singapore rain forest were investigated for enhanced bioactivity and novel secondary metabolites. Both mycelia and fermentation broth were extracted and analyzed. The results showed that triterpenoids were the main bioactive compounds from the extract samples and their production was enhanced through mycelial co-cultivation. In addition, mycelia co-cultivation also resulted in enhanced anti-oxidant and anti-diabetic activities. More interestingly, the secondary metabolite profiles varied greatly between mono-culture and coculture with novel compounds detected in mushroom mycelia co-cultivation. Our study demonstrated that mixed-culture fermentation of mushroom mycelia may be an effective strategy to discover novel bioactive compounds and develop novel nutraceutical products.
Ji Zhang has completed his Masters from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He is a Research Scientist and Principle Investigator at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, School of Life Science and Chemical Technology. His research interest is in the area of protein engineering, molecular biotechnology and microbial biotechnology.
E-mail: zji5@np.edu.sg
