Bioaccumulation of Neem limonoids in <i>Pleurotus sajor-caju</i>

Abstract

<i>Pleurotus sajor-caju</i>,<i> </i>an important edible mushroom, is cultivated on various combinations of neem fruit components for bioaccumulation of active principles of neem fruit that enrich its medicinal value. Husk and hull : kernel (1:1) results in the best cultivation with biological efficiency up to 45.75 per cent, which is comparable to its cultivation on banana pseudostem (47.32 per cent), a potent lignocellulosic substrate. To find out the intensity of accumulation of medicinally important limonoids in the fruiting bodies through HPLC, <i>Azadirachtin</i>,<i> </i>one of the limonoids, is taken as a reference compound and it is found to he accumulated in the fruiting bodies of <i>P sajor-caju </i>(4.19 ppm). The presence of limonoids in these mushrooms makes them a health food.