Lipid accumulation inTrichodermaspecies

Two filamentous fungi, Trichoderma harzianum and Trichoderma viride, were compared for their ability to synthesize lipids on different carbon and nitrogen sources. Three culture media were selected for each strain after preliminary screening. All the test media were nitrogen-deficient (C/N = 60) so as to stimulate lipid accumulation. For both microorganisms the glucose-ammonium sulphate medium was the most conducive to lipid production: a lipid accumulation of 17% (w/w) of biomass dry weight was obtained for T. harzianum and of 32% (w/w) of biomass dry weight for T. viride. In sucrose-sodium nitrate medium T. harzianum was able to accumulate almost 25% (w/w) of its biomass in lipid form. Ho…