Disc-cultured Taiwanofungus camphoratus fruiting bodies and their bioactive metabolites 

Taiwanofungus camphoratus (TC) is a high-value medicinal fungus traditionally used as folk medicine in health maintenance, and disease prevention and treatment. Disc-culture is a novel technique for producing TC fruiting bodies. This study aimed to establish an optimal condition of the disc-cultured method to produce TC fruiting bodies and examine their composition of bioactive metabolites. Among the different disc-cultured conditions tested, the optimal growth rate was obtained with a culture substrate containing a mixture of wheat, barley, and brown rice at the ratio of 0.5: 0.5: 1. A complete growth of light orange mycelium was observed on day 16, pale orange primordial and young fruiting bodies appeared on day 32, and mature fruiting bodies were harvested on day 90. The diameter of each fruiting body was about 10 cm. The average fresh weight of fruiting bodies produced per cultured disc was 73.36 g, and the estimated biotransformation rate was 16.39%. The collected TC fruiting bodies possessed button bodies with pore-like structures and basidiospores, which met the characteristic conditions of polypore fruiting bodies. The HPLC results showed that fruiting bodies contained seven important TC index compounds, namely antcins A, B, C, K, and H, dehydrosulphurenic acid, and dehydroeburicoic acid. This study demonstrated the success of using the disc-cultured technique to produce TC fruiting bodies, and they were confirmed to contain the major bioactive triterpenoids of medicinal value.