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The ethnopharmaceutical approach is important for the discovery and development of natural product research and requires a deep understanding not only of biometabolites discovery and profiling but also of cultural and social science. For millennia, epigeous macrofungi (mushrooms) and hypogeous macrofungi (truffles) were considered as precious food in many cultures based on their high nutritional value and characterized pleasant aroma. In African and Middle Eastern cultures, macrofungi have long history as high nutritional food and were widely applied in folk medicine. The purpose of this review is to summarize the available information related to the nutritional and medicinal value of African and Middle Eastern macrofungi and to highlight their application in complementary folk medicine in this part of the world.

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Recombinant Aspergillus niger genetically engineered to produce glucose oxidase using the constitutive gpdA promoter and the glucoamylase signal sequence for secretion was grown in batch cultures at agitation speeds of 200 -800 rpm covering the industrial relevant power input range of 0.1 -5 W kg -1 . The growth morphology ranged from large pellets with an average diameter of 1500 µm at low power input up to micropellets embedded in a filamentous network at high power input. A correlation of agitation intensity with growth morphology and glucose oxidase production revealed an increase of the protein production capability with the change of the growth morphology from pelleted to filamentous growth forms. However, the exposure to higher shear stress with increasing power input also resulted in lower biomass yields as well as increased transient formation of polyol (xylitol) and higher final concentrations of oxalic acid. The highest specific production rates were found in young filamentous growth forms at high power input. Although intermediate agitation intensity leading to small pellets became more favorable during prolonged cultivation. An acridine orange staining procedure discriminating between RNA rich (red) and RNA poor regions (green) of the fungal biomass proved that active protein production is restricted to filamentous growth forms and the outer layer of fungal pellets. A correlation between the RNA rich fraction of the biomass determined by image analysis and the productivity is shown.

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This study demonstrates the effect of cultivation conditions on the production of natamycin. Of these conditions, the effect of oxygen limitation and type of inoculum were extensively investigated. Increasing the shaking speed and decreasing the medium volume improved both the volumetric and specific natamycin production. Also, decreasing the dissolved oxygen level in the cultivation medium through the addition of soluble biopolymer (alginate) resulted in a significant decrease in the natamycin yield without effect on the cell growth. On the other hand, spore inoculum yielded higher concentration of natamycin compared to the vegetative cells by about 40%. The maximal cell productivity based on biomass [Yp/x] of about 0.4 [g/g] was obtained by using shake flask of 50 ml working volume agitated at 200 rpm and the inoculum was in the form of spore 2 x 10(8) spores/ml. These results showed that the production process of natamycin is highly dependent on oxygen level in the cultivation medium and type of inoculum as well.

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