IN VITRO GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS AND BIOACTIVITIES OF THE CULTIVATED MYCELIUM OF OPHIOCORDYCEPS SPHECOCEPHALA FROM VIETNAM

. Ophiocordyceps sphecocephala is an entomopathogenic fungus that infects wasps. In this report, the in vitro growth characteristics of Vietnamese Ophiocordyceps sphecocephala collected in Bidoup, Nui Ba, Lam Dong, Vietnam were investigated. The bioactivities of the cultivated mycelium were also studied. The data showed that O. sphecocephala had higher yield of mycelium in mushroom complete medium (MCM), malt yeast medium (MY) and Sabouraud dextrose and yeast extract medium (SDY). Yeast extract and silkworm pupa powder were the preferred nitrogen sources. Besides, O. sphecocephala could utilize various forms of hexoses such as glucose, fructose, sucrose, lactose, maltose, and starch as the carbon sources. The optimal pH for the growth of O. sphecocephala was 6.0. The ethanol extract of O. sphecocephala exhibited several bioactivities: the capacity to scavenge 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, the inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase and the cytotoxicity against MCF-7 (the breast cancer cell line), HeLa (the cervical cancer cell line), Hepa G2 (the liver cancer cell line), Jurkat (the leukemia cell line) and NCI H460 (the lung cancer cell line) with the highest effect on MCF-7, and the lowest effect on NCI H460. Our finding thus demonstrated a potential of employing O. sphecocephala mycelium in pharmacology.