Successful cultivation of a valuable wild strain of Lepista sordida from Thailand

Lepista sordida is an edible and medicinal mushroom, but, until now, it had to be collected from the wild. The present study is the first report of the successful cultivation of a wild strain of L. sordida from Thailand. The morphological description and molecular examination of the fungus are included, in order to confirm the identification of the species. Optimization was carried out for mycelium growth and fruiting body production. yeast malt extract (YMA), pH 6.0 - 7.0 and a temperature of 25 - 30 degrees C. A sorghum mushroom spawn was used for upscaling of the mycelium to be used for fruiting body production. Optimal conditions for the fruiting phase were 25 degrees C with 95-97% humidity in a compost rice straw medium with sandy-soil casing layer. Additionally, the secondary metabolites of fruiting body and cultured mycelium were investigated. Nudic acid B, a known toxic polyacetylene, was isolated from submerged cultures of L. sordida, while no polyacetylenic compounds were found in the fruiting bodies.