Induction of antroquinonol production by addition of hydrogen peroxide in the fermentation of Antrodia camphorata S‐29

BACKGROUND Antroquinonol have significantly anti‐tumour effects on various cancer cells. There is still lack of reports on regulation of environmental factors on antroquinonol production by Antrodia camphorata . RESULTS An effective submerged fermentation method was employed to induce antroquinonol with adding H 2 O 2 . The production of antroquinonol was 57.81 mg L −1 after fermentation for 10 days when adding 25 mmol L −1 H 2 O 2 at day 4 of the fermentation process. Then, antroquinonol was further increased to 80.10 mg L −1 with cell productivity of 14.94 mg g −1 dry mycelium when the feeding rate of H 2 O 2 was adjusted to 0.2 mmol L −1 h −1 in the 7 L fermentation bioreactor. After inhibiting the generation of reactive oxygen species with the inhibitor diphenyleneiodoium, the synthesis of antroquinonol from A. camphorata was significantly reduced, and the yield was only 3.3 mg L −1 . ConcluSION The results demonstrated that addition of H 2 O 2 was a very effective strategy to induce and regulate the synthesis of antroquinonol in submerged fermentation. Reactive oxygen species generated by H 2 O 2 during fermentation caused oxidative stress, which induced the synthesis of antroquinonol and other chemical compounds. Moreover, it is very beneficial process to improve production and diversity of the active compounds during liquid fermentation of A. camphorata mycelium. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry