ABSTRACT

Original strains of Ganoderma lucidum (W.Curt.:Fr.) Lloyd and G. applanatum (Pers.) Pat. (synonymous G. lipsiense (Batsch) Atk.) from Slovenian habitats were isolated and used for experimental work. In G. applanatum, research was focused on triterpenoid acids. They were isolated from the fruiting bodies of G. applanatum of Istrian origin (BFWS Gaa2), growing on Populus trees. The highest amount of triterpenoid acids was found in the tubes (6.4 mg/g of air-dried weight), followed by the younger dark context layer of the pileus (2.5 mg/g), the older white context layer (0.6 mg/g), and the upper surface of the fruiting body (0.6 mg/g). G. lucidum strain MZKI G97, isolated from the Slovenian forest, was cultivated by solid state cultivation in a horizontal reactor and by submerged liquid substrate cultivation in a 10-L laboratory stirred tank reactor. Using a 17% (wet weight) of 6-day-old vegetative inoculum, up to 17.0 gL⁻¹ of dry fungal biomass was obtained in a fed batch process. From the mycelium biomass, 1.7 gL⁻¹ of extracellular and 0.45 gL⁻¹ of intracellular polysaccharides were isolated, which were mainly β-D-glucans. Polysaccharide fractions, tested in vitro on the induction of cytokine synthesis in primary cultures of human mononuclear cells from a buffy coat of healthy donors, induced 3.0.630 pg mL⁻¹ of TNF-α and 1.23.2.18 pg mL⁻¹ of IFN-γ.