Abstract
Submerged cultures of mushroom mycelium were reviewed from the view point of a large-scale cultivation. Applications of bubble column bioreactors in the field of cultivation in higher fungi, animal cells, plant cells, and yeast in the previous investigations were also reviewed. As a result, we found that the bubble column fermentors have a high potential for large-scale cultivation of mushroom mycelium. Finally, we demonstrated the application of bubble column fermentors to the submerged cultures of four different kinds of mushroom mycelia, Morchella esculenta, Schizophyllum commune, Tricholoma matsutake, and Lentinus edodes. In the cultivation of Lentinus edodes, a novel type of airlift column with a tapered riser was applied.
