Abstract: Coprinus atramentarius was cultivated with submerged fermentation method. Various nutritional factors including carbon sources, nitrogen sources and inorganic salt affecting the yield of extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) and mycelium growth were studied by single factor test. The key influential factors were further investigated by response surface methodology. By solving the quadratic regression model equation with appropriate statistic methods, the optimum concentrations for the sub-merged fermentation medium are determined that glucose, corn powder, wheat bran, KH2PO4 and MgSO·47H2O are 13.51, 17.07, 7.62, 2.29 and 2 g/L, respectively, and the predicted yield of the extracellular polysaccharide is 293.73 mg/L. When the above values are 10.07, 18.02, 11.63, 1.58 and 4 g/L respectively, the maximum biomass is 6.24 g/L.

Key words: Coprinus atramentarius, liquid fermentation, extracellular polysaccharide, biomass, response surface methodology