# Optimization of Cultivation Substrate Formula and Key Physical Parameters for Domestication of Floccularia luteovirens by Response Surface Methodology

## TL;DR

This study optimized the cultivation conditions for Floccularia luteovirens using a response surface methodology to improve its artificial domestication.

## Contribution

The study provides the first systematic optimization of substrate formula and physical parameters for Floccularia luteovirens cultivation.

## Key findings

- The optimal main substrate was mixed sawdust, with corn flour as the best auxiliary substrate.
- The best substrate-to-water ratio was 1:1.721 and compactness of 12.845 cm, achieving 28.75 mm mycelial growth.
- The quadratic regression model showed excellent fitness (R2 = 0.9920) for predicting mycelial growth.

## Abstract

Floccularia luteovirens is an edible and medicinal fungus with great development value on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, but its artificial domestication and cultivation are limited by the lack of systematic research on cultivation substrate formulas and key parameters. This study adopted the technical route of “preliminary screening—single-factor optimization—response surface collaborative optimization” to conduct research on the screening and optimization of its domestication cultivation substrate. Firstly, through the preliminary screening of 26 groups of formulas, a basic cultivation substrate formula with compatible complex nutrition and physical structure was determined. Secondly, single-factor experiments clarified that mixed sawdust was the optimal main substrate, corn flour was the optimal auxiliary substrate, the suitable substrate-to-water ratio was 1:1.6, and the suitable compactness was a substrate surface height of 12–12.5 cm (corresponding to a bulk density of 1.10–1.15 g/cm3 and a porosity of 60.6–63.3%). Finally, based on the response surface Box–Behnken model, with the main substrate, substrate-to-water ratio, and compactness as independent variables, and the total mycelial growth in 30 days as the response value, response surface optimization was performed to obtain the optimal formula: main substrate 76.002%, substrate-to-water ratio 1:1.721, and compactness 12.845 cm. Under these conditions, the mycelial growth reached 28.75 mm, which was highly consistent with the model’s predicted value (28.012 mm), and the constructed quadratic regression model showed excellent fitness (R2 = 0.9920, p = 0.0008). This study clarified the core influencing factors and adaptation mechanism of the cultivation substrate for Floccularia luteovirens, filled the research gap in the domestication cultivation substrate of this fungus, and provided basic technical parameters for its large-scale artificial cultivation.