Chiang Mai Journal of Science

 Cordyceps militaris has traditionally been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, however C. militaris has gained importance and is also used as a FUNCTIONAL FOOD. Cordyceps militaris contains similar biochemical components as C. sinensis as well as the anti-cancer component cordycepin. Because C. militaris can be grown in culture and has significant medicinal affects, market demand for artificial C. militaris has increased. This study was aimed to optimize the conditions of solid-state fermentation for fruiting body growth and cordycepin production frome C. militaris by one-factor-at-a-time and orthogonal layout methods. The optimal culture substate was brown rice. The optimal fruiting body growth and cordycepin production were observed at relatively low pH value. The optimum composition were 40 g/L glucose, 5 g/L peptone, 1.5 g/L MgSO₄.7H₂O, 1.5 g/L K₂HPO₄ and 1.0 mg/L NAA for optimal fruiting body growth and 10 g/L NAA for cordycepin production. These optimization strategies in solid medium culture lead to a 67.96% (1.73±0.08 g/bottle) increase in fruiting body yield and a 63.17% (9.17±0.09 mg/g) increase of cordecepin yield in fruiting body, which may be applied in industrial production of cordycepin via solid-state fermentation.