(463b) Industrial Platform Design for Large Scale Production of Pleuran: An Immunomodulator/Anticancer Polysaccharide From Pleurotus Ostreatus

For centuries, macrofungi have been used as food and medicine in different parts of the world. This is mainly attributed to their high nutritional value as potential source of carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids and minerals. In addition, they are also rich in many bioactive metabolites of high medicinal values such as lectins, polysaccharides, phenolics and polyphenolics, terpenoids, ergosterols and volatile organic compounds. Thus, mushrooms played crucial role as important component in folk medicine especially in Africa, Middle East, China and Japan since long time. During the last 30 years of intensive research, mushroom extracts showed many potential medicinal applications as immumomodulator, antitumor/anticancer, antibacterial and antiviral, antioxidant, antihypoglycemic and as active medicines in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases through their action as anti-atherosclerosis agents. Pleuran (CAS # 159940-37-1) is one of the most important glucose polymers and belongs to (β-(1,3/1,6)-D-glucan group. Like other hexose polymers, it has the general chemical formula of (C₆H₁₀O₅)_n., and alkali soluble polysaccharide. This bioactive polysaccharide is produced by the third most famous mushroom in the world Pleurotus ostreatus (widely known as oyster mushrooms). This polysaccharide can significantly stimulate human immune system and also has also anticancer, antiviral and antibacterial activity. The present demonstrates the design of large scale production platform for pleuran production as exopolysaccharide during submerged culture cultivation of P. ostreatus. In addition, the presented platform could be also applied as universal platform for submerged cultivation of mushrooms for the production of bioactive metabolites.