TITLE:
Mycelial Growth of Pleurotus Spp in Se-Enriched Culture Media
AUTHORS:
Marliane de Cássia Soares da Silva, Mateus Dias Nunes, Jose Maria Rodrigues da Luz, Maria Catarina Megumi Kasuya
KEYWORDS:
Mushrooms; Colony Morphology; Food; Sodium Selenite; Hyphae Diameter
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.3 No.8A,
December
26,
2013
ABSTRACT: Selenium (Se) is an essential element to human. However, this element
can be in low content in soil of some regions. Se deficiency may cause Keshan disease,
thyroid dysfunction and osteoarthritis. The Se-enriched cereals are an interesting
way to prevent these diseases. But, recent studies have shown that Se-enriched
mushrooms are a better Se source. This occurs due to the high capacity of the fungi
to absorb and transform the inorganic Se to organic forms, which are more bioavailable. Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus eryngii are mushrooms species worldwide consumed
and able to Se bioaccumulate. However, depending on the level of this
element, it can be toxic for the fungus. Here we showed that the presence of the
Se in culture medium decreases fungal growth rate, hyphae diameter and septum
distance and causes alteration in color of colony. A garlic strong smell was directly
proportional to Se level. P. eryngii was more tolerant to Se than P. ostreatus.
So, it is important to screen this element level for Se-enriched mushroom production.