Production of Coconut Aroma in Solid-State Cultivation: Screening and Identification ofTrichodermaStrains for 6-Pentyl-Alpha-Pyrone and Conidia Production

The polyketide, 6-pentyl-alpha-pyrone (6-PP), has a characteristic coconut aroma and is produced by manyTrichodermaspecies. In this study, we screened formerly isolatedTrichodermastrains for 6-PP production grown using solid-state fermentation (SSF). Sugarcane bagasse supplemented with a nutrient solution was used as the support material for the culture. We detected outstandingly strong 6-PP production in the case of twoTrichodermastrains in this experiment. The strains were identified based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence analysis asTrichoderma asperellum(G7 and G18). We also investigated the production of 6-PP in the case of the bestTrichodermastrain selected (T. asperellumG7) from two types of cultivation (SSF and liquid cultivation (LC)). The same liquid medium was used to impregnate sugarcane bagasse. Results led to a 6-PP production 80 times higher (85.11 μg·g·DM−1) in SSF than that found in LC (10.00 μg·L−1) after eight days of cultivation. For this, the SSF is the best option to produce 6-PP compared to liquid cultures.