Author(s)
Ann Angel, Nirmala Ravimannan
Abstract
A culture medium is an environment that provides essential nutrients, moisture, and physical support to sustain the growth of microorganisms in a laboratory setting. While Potato Dextrose Broth (PDB) has been a valuable tool for fungal cultivation in liquid media, exploring alternative methods could lead to more sustainable, cost-effective, and customizable options for laboratory research and biotechnological applications. This study aimed to find out the potential of utilizing various mixtures of vegetable wastes such as cabbage, onion, carrot, beans, beetroot, and drumstick in different ratios to cultivate selected fungi, Aspergillus sp., Fusarium sp., Mucor sp., Penicillium sp., Rhizopus sp. and Trichoderma sp. under laboratory conditions. Three different mixtures were used: BCC (beetroot, carrot, cabbage), OBD (onion, beans, drumstick) and BCO (beans, carrot, onion). Most of the fungi showed greater growth on alternative media compared to Potato Dextrose Broth (PDB). The results indicated that the BCC medium which was prepared in 1:1:2, 1:1:1 and 1:2:1 ratios, exhibited higher growth for Aspergillus sp., Fusarium sp. and Mucor sp. respectively. The OBD medium highly induced the growth of Rhizopus sp. and Trichoderma sp., which were prepared in 1:1:1 and 1:1:2 ratios, respectively. Lastly, higher development of Penicillium sp. was observed in the BCO medium, which was mixed in a 2:1:1 ratio. Thus, vegetable waste serves as a useful source for fungal cultivation and it can replace the expensive commercial culture media.
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