Effects of inoculation on production of anticancer drug-cordycepin in surface liquid culture using <i>Cordyceps militaris</i> mutant: A minor factor may greatly affect the result

Abstract

To explore the effects of inoculation on the production of anticancer drug cordycepin in surface liquid culture using <i>Cordyceps militaris</i><b> </b>mutant,<b> </b>several inoculants [single (control), double and triple] were used in the present experiment. HPLC analysis for cordycepin concentration, mutarotase-glucose oxidase method using Glucose CII test for glucose concentration, and dry cell mycelia were measured. Analysis showed that the cordycepin productions in control, double and triple inoculants were 5.05, 6.11 and 5.61 g L^-1, respectively. It was highest in double inoculants and was 21% and 8.91% higher than those of the control and triple inoculants, respectively. Similarly, the cordycepin production in triple inoculants also superseded the control by 11.09%, but was lower than that of the doubleinoculants. Regarding glucose consumption, it was revealed that the consumption in triple inoculants was the fastest, while in double inoculants it was faster than the control. The dry mycelia weights showed a descending trend as 3.27, 3.20 and 3.17 g for triple, double and single inoculants, respectively, indicating a positive correlation between the production of cordycepin and the dry mycelia weight, but not linear. The number of inoculants used greatly affected the production of cordycepin and also positively correlated to the dry mycelia weight.