Improving the Fermentation Production of the Individual Key Triterpene Ganoderic Acid Me by the Medicinal Fungus Ganoderma lucidum in Submerged Culture

Enhanced ganoderic acid Me (GA-Me, an important anti-tumor triterpene) yield was attained with the medicinal fungus Ganoderma lucidum using response surface methodology (RSM). Interactions were studied with three variables, viz. glucose, peptone and culture time using a Central Composite Design (CCD). The CCD contains a total of 20 experiments with the first 14 experiments organized in a fractional factorial design, with the experimental trails from 15 to 20 involving the replications of the central points. A polynomial model, describing the relationships between the yield of GA-Me and the three factors in a second-order equation, was developed. The model predicted the maximum GA-Me yield of 11.9 mg·L(−1) for glucose, peptone, culture time values of 44.4 g·L(−1), 5.0 g·L(−1), 437.1 h, respectively, and a maximum GA-Me yield of 12.4 mg·L(−1) was obtained in the validation experiment, which represented a 129.6% increase in titre compared to that of the non-optimized conditions. In addition, 11.4 mg·L(−1) of GA-Me was obtained in a 30-L agitated fermenter under the optimized conditions, suggesting the submerged culture conditions optimized in the present study were also suitable for GA-Me production on a large scale.