Production of extracellular polysaccharide by Monilinia fructigena for aquaculture

Production of extracellular polysaccharide by Monilinia fructigena in B-I medium containing cereals was higher than that in glucose medium. Productivities in B-I medium and glucose medium were 0.7g/l nd 0.2-03g/l respectively. The maximum content of polysaccharide occurred at the rising point from the lowest pH of culture. As the apparent viscosity of the polysaccharide solution increased, the flow Index (m) decreased, and the consistency Index (Kc) also increased. The polysaccharide solution was a typical pseudoplastic fluid. The mycelium was separated from the culture solution by $300\mu m$ mesh-filter and the polysaccharide was precipitated by adding 50% of ethanol (v/v). The amount of the polysaccharide removed from the filtrated solution was 0.45 g/l and the amount adhered to the mycelium was 0.25g/l. In experiments for investigating growth enhancement of rotifer (Brachionus plicatilis) by the polysaccharide, the dose of the polysaccharide was 1mg per 10,000 organisms of rotifer. Maximum specific growth rate of rotifer with feed consisting of sea Chlorella sp. and the polysaccharide was 1.095/day in the batch culture for 10 days. A semi-continuous culture was done for 30 days, the biomass of rotifer could be harvested twice. Maximum specific growth rate with sea Chlorella sp. and the polysaccharide was 0.734/day before the first harvest, and 1.685/day before the second harvest. Productivity was 38 $cells/ml\; \cdot\; day$ with sea Chlorella sp. and the polysaccharide.