Studies on the Cultural Characteristics of Poria cocos

The cultural characteristics and some factors such as nutrient sources and supplements effecting on mycelial growth and density were investigated to study the possibility of an artificial cultivation of P. cocos. The optimum pH for P. cocos was 4.0-4.5. The optimal growth temperature ranged from to . Myceial growth of P. cocos was better in SPD than PD media. Adding the nurient sources such as dextrose, yeast and potato infusion to pine extract media practically stimulated the mycelial growth and density of P. cocos comparing to pine extract media alone. When P. cocos was cultured on sawdust media added 3 different supplements composed of corn meal, rice bran and wheat bran, corn meal was the best and its percentage was 30 (w/w) for mycelial growth. On culturing in sawdust media added by varying the mixture ratio of them, the media mixed corn meal and wheat bran (3:1, w/w) supported more vigours for mycelial growth. In inoculation test to pine stem, the fungal growth was good in under or inside pine bark and xylem, but the sclerotium was not observed in the stem. Mycelial growth was also observed in central part of pine stem by cross section.