High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Studies to Estimate Ergosterol Content at Different Developmental Stages of the Lingzhi or Reishi Medicinal Mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum (Agaricomycetes)

Ganoderma lucidum has been widely used as a source of potent nutraceutical products. This study was planned to identify and characterize the role of ergosterol in the developmental process of G. lucidum. Four strains of G. lucidum (GL-I-IV) showed a gradual increase in biomass (from 25.52 to 31.72 g) after 3 weeks of growth in mushroom complete medium broth, with maximum biomass observed for strain GL-III. Upon cultivation of G. lucidum strains on wheat straw supplemented with 5% wheat bran, maximum biological efficiency was recorded for the GL-I strain (31.23%), followed by GL-II (26.73%); the number of fruiting bodies were 927 and 693, each weighing 33.7 and 38.6 g, respectively. The amount of ergosterol in the Ganoderma test strains varied among the strains and at different developmental stages, namely, the vegetative mycelium, spawn run, pinhead, and fruiting body phases. The maximum ergosterol content was produced by the GL-I strain during the vegetative mycelium (4601 p.g/g) and reproductive fruiting body (7009 p.g/g) stages. However, strain GL-IV followed by strain GL-II exhibited maximum ergosterol content in the spawn run stage. The ergosterol content was better for GL-II at the pinhead stage. This report indicates that ergosterol content varies among the test strains. Moreover, it increases with each stage of the cultivation process, that is, from spawn run to pinhead to and fruiting body formation.