Optimal temperature for mycelial growth of Auricularia strains from paranense rainforest, Argentina for future domestication.

CONIGLIO, ROMINA; LÓPEZ ALICIA; DÍAZ, GABRIELA; ALBERTÓ, EDGARDO; ZAPATA PEDRO

Congreso; IX Congresso Brasileiro de Micologia.; 2019

Mushrooms are recognized as natural and healthy foods that proceed from an eco-friendly farming system. In order to fulfill the increasing demand for edible mushrooms and maintain a steady supply throughout the year, it is necessary to domesticate new wild edible mushroom species. In this sense, the study of species from the genus Auricularia, generally termed wood ear mushrooms, become interesting because their numerous medicinal and nutritional properties. The objective of this work was to determine the optimal temperatures and speed of growth for five A. fuscosuccinea strains isolated from Misiones Rainforest, Argentina. Five strains, IMiBioCult 0052, 0055, 0056, 0058 and 0081 were used. These strains are deposited in the collections of the Instituto de Biotecnología Misiones and Instituto Misionero de Biodiversidad. Agar plugs of 0.6 mm with mycelium from each strain was placed in the center of Petri dishes containing potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. Each strain was incubated by duplicate at 20°C, 25°C and 30°C for 15 days and the diameters of the colonies were measured daily. Results showed that optimal growth temperature of strains 0055, 0056 and 0081 was 30° C, covering the whole plate at day 10 of incubation, while the maximum diameter for 25 °C was reached at day 13-14. The optimal growth temperatures of strains 0052 and 0058 were 25°C and 30°C, without statistically significant differences (p>0.05) and the maximum mycelial growth was reached at days 12-13 for both strains. Regarding to the incubation at 20°C, any strain reached the maximum diameter until day 15. Optimal temperature of growth of Auricularia wild strains become essential for its domestication and cultivation since mushrooms could provide nutritional benefits and new livelihood opportunities to the farmers in this region.