Efficient production of 4-Acetylantroquinonol B from Antrodia cinnamomea through two-stage carbon source coordination optimization

4‑Acetylantroquinonol B (4-AAQB), as a kind of ubiquinone extracted from Antrodia cinnamomea (A. cinnamomea), has anticancer bioactivity. In this work, the deep liquid fermentation method was used to cultivate A. cinnamomea. After the medium compositions were optimized, the yield of 4-AAQB reached 11.05 mg/L in 20 days, about 6.9 times higher than the level from the initial medium. And fructose was found as the optimum carbon source for 4-AAQB accumulation. The two-stage cultivation method was thus developed for the fermentation process and was proven to be efficient for the improvement of cell growth combined with the immobilization of the mycelium on a fiber net. The production of 4-AAQB reached 16.3 mg/L in a 5 L fermentor. These data demonstrated that it was a feasible method for the production of 4-AAQB and provided a potential way for the production of natural active compounds by A. cinnamomea at an industrial scale. © 2021