Production of Exopolysaccharides (EPSs) and Evaluation of Biological Properties of Pleurotus flabellatus (Berk and Br.) Sacc

Abstract

Species of Pleurotus have gained tremendous interest due to its nutritional and various medicinal applications. The specific goals of this research work are to evaluate the effects of different carbon and nitrogen sources for mycelial biomass, average growth rate and exopolysaccharide (EPSs) production, estimation of total carbohydrate content and antioxidant activities of EPSs and determination of antibacterial properties of various extracts of Pleurotus flabellatus. The starch (3.84\u2009±\u20090.43\xa0g/l and 0.55\u2009±\u20090.21\xa0g/l/day) and peptone (1.57\u2009±\u20090.87\xa0g/l and 0.22\u2009±\u20090.12\xa0g/l/day) were the best (p\u2009<\u20090.05) carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively, for better mycelial growth and average growth rate of P. flabellatus, whereas EPSs production was highest in sucrose (3.467\u2009±\u20090.96\xa0g/l) and beef extract (6.00\u2009±\u20090.59\xa0g/l). The highest amount of carbohydrate from EPSs was observed in starch (3.39\xa0mg/100\xa0g) and peptone (4.05\u2009±\u20090.08\xa0mg/100\xa0g) medium (p\u2009<\u20090.05). The highest free radical scavenging activities of EPSs were observed in glucose (83.80\u2009±\u20090.87%) and calcium nitrate (89.01\u2009±\u20091.61%) at 16.0\xa0mg/ml concentration (p\u2009<\u20090.05). The broth extract of P. flabellatus showed highest (p\u2009<\u20090.05) antibacterial activity against B. subtilis, whereas EPSs extract showed lowest activity against B. subtilis; meanwhile, all three types of extract did not show activity against S. aureus. Therefore, more research work is necessary to find out the active chemicals constituents of EPSs and their functional relationships.