Evaluation of Partial Substitution of Cocoyam Starch as Alternative Gelling Agent in Culture Media for  Cultivation of Fungi

I. A. Onyimba; M. M. Dashen; C. E. Odu; I. A. Nnebechukwu; A. I. Njoku; M. O. Job; E. Dakiyes; A. C. Ngene; O. J. Egbere

doi:10.9734/ajb2t/2023/v9i1175

Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Evaluation of Partial Substitution of Cocoyam Starch as Alternative Gelling Agent in Culture Media for Cultivation of Fungi

I. A. Onyimba, M. M. Dashen, C. E. Odu, I. A. Nnebechukwu, A. I. Njoku, M. O. Job, E. Dakiyes, A. C. Ngene, O. J. Egbere

Asian Journal of Biotechnology and Bioresource Technology · pp. 20–27 · Published 12 Apr 2023

10.9734/ajb2t/2023/v9i1175

Abstract

Aim: In view of high cost of agar in Nigeria, the study evaluated the suitability of cocoyam starch and cocoyam starch-agar blends as alternative gelling agents in mycological culture media. Methodology: Media characteristics and ability of the media to support growth and sporulation of the test fungi A. niger and A. flavus were determined using standard procedures. Potato dextrose agar (PDA) served as the control medium. Results: Addition of cocoyam starch to the media did not significantly affect media clarity, viscosity, and ease of pouring. Media in which cocoyam starch made up 57% or less of the gelling agent solidified while those with higher contents of starch were either semi solid or watery. Mean radial growth ranges were 75.00 ± 0.70 – 84.00 ± 1.00 mm and 77.50 ± 0.50 – 86.50 ± 0.50 mm for A. niger and A. flavus respectively. Cocoyam starch-agar blend (4:3) medium produced significantly higher mean radial growth (84.00 ± 1.00 mm and 86.00 ± 0.50 mm for A. niger and A. flavus respectively) than all the other treatments (P = .05). Mean spore counts per mycelial disc of the various media ranged from 8.6×103 to 9.3×103 for A. niger and 7.9×103 to 9.5×103 for A. flavus. Though both fungi sporulated well on all the media, the PDA medium and the 2 g of cocoyam starch + 4 g of agar medium had significantly higher mean spore counts compared to the other media. Conclusion: The findings show that cocoyam starch can partially substitute agar as gelling agent in mycological culture media.

Agar cocoyam culture media gelling agent starch

References (8)

1 Progress in the development of gelling agents for improved culturability of microorganisms [DOI]
2 Cocoyam (corms and cormels)—An underexploited food and feed resource [DOI]
3 Some properties of starches from cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) and cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz.) grown in Malawi [DOI]
4 Cassava starch-agar blend as alternative gelling agent for mycological culture media
5 Suitability of various plant derived gelling agents as agar substitute in microbiological growth media [DOI]
6 Characterisation of botanical starches as potential substitutes of agar in tissue culture media [DOI]
7 Use of cassava starch as gelling agent during in vitro micropropagation of banana [DOI]
8 Efficiency of the partial substitution of agar with potato starch on the growth and phytochemical parameters of lulo (Solanum quitoense) cultured in vitro [DOI]

Cited by 2

Going green: bacteriological analysis in food from the perspective of sustainability

Patricia Marques de Farias, Roberta Fontanive Miyahira, Carollyne Maragoni-Santos · Sustainable Analytical Techniques in Food Science · 2025

Showing 1 of 2 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Effect of Carbohydrate Type on Brain Composition and Senescence in Aging, Hyperinsulinemia-prone OBESE LA/Ntul//-cp Rats — shares topic coverage
Extracellular Amylases Produced by Bacillus thuringiensis — shares topic coverage
Isolation, Identification and Optimization of Culture Conditions of Bacillus sp. Strain PM1 for Alkalo-thermostable Amylase Production — shares topic coverage
Histological Study of the Polarity of Yam Tuber (Dioscorea spp.) at the Beginning of Tuberization — shares topic coverage
Variance of Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) Starch Granule Morphology among Five Different Provinces in Sri Lanka — shares topic coverage

Access this article

View at publisher

Cite this article

I. A. Onyimba, M. M. Dashen, C. E. Odu, I. A. Nnebechukwu, A. I. Njoku, M. O. Job, E. Dakiyes, A. C. Ngene, O. J. Egbere (2023). Evaluation of Partial Substitution of Cocoyam Starch as Alternative Gelling Agent in Culture Media for Cultivation of Fungi. Asian Journal of Biotechnology and Bioresource Technology , 20–27. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajb2t/2023/v9i1175

Affiliations

I. A. Onyimba — Department of Science Laboratory Technology, University of Jos, Nigeria.
M. M. Dashen — Department of Microbiology, University of Jos, Nigeria.
C. E. Odu — Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria.
I. A. Nnebechukwu — Department of Plant Science and Technology, University of Jos, Nigeria .
A. I. Njoku — Department of Science Laboratory Technology, University of Jos, Nigeria.
M. O. Job — Department of Science Laboratory Technology, University of Jos, Nigeria.
E. Dakiyes — Department of Science Laboratory Technology, University of Jos, Nigeria.
A. C. Ngene — Department of Microbiology, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Nigeria.
O. J. Egbere — Department of Microbiology, University of Jos, Nigeria.

Metrics

23
Views: 0
Downloads: 2
Citations: 2
Outbound

Full metrics

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

23

Page views

0

PDF downloads

2

Outbound clicks

2

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.