Effects of photoperiod, incubation time and shaker incubation rotation speed on production of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae in liquid fermentation

The success of pest control using insect pathogenic fungi such as Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae depends on practical and economical methods for their mass production. In this study, the effects of light periods (including 12-12, 18-6 and 18-6 light and dark), incubation times (48, 72- and 96-hours) and incubator rotations (100, 150 and 200 rpm) were investigated based on blastospore concentrations of the two fungi in 4 replications. The results showed that different treatments including light periods, incubation times and incubator rotations had significant difference on B. bassiana and M. anisopliae fungi in terms of spores concentrations, germination percentage, wet and dry weights production in complete liquid phase for blastospore at 1% probability level. The highest concentration of blastospore, germination percentage, wet weight and dry weight of B. bassiana and M. anisopliae were 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness, rotation rate of incubator of 150 rpm and incubation period of 75 hours. Also, the results of this study showed that B. bassiana and M. anisopliae can be replicated with good performance of sugarcane byproducts and maintain the germination capacity of blastospore. The highest concentration of blastospore, germination percentage, fresh weight and dry weight of B. bassiana and M. anisopliae were incubated at 150 rpm. According to the results of this study, two species of pathogenic fungi can be produced by using a combination of environmental conditions and incubator device settings with good production performance and appropriate economic efficiency.