Snb 100

The amount of wet biomass obtained after filtration was noted using a precise analytical weighing balance (Adventurer Pro AS214 d = 0.0001 g, Ohaus Europe GmbH, Greifensee, Switzerland). To determine the dry biomass weight, the wet filters were dried in a hot air oven (SNB 100, Memmert, Schwabach, Germany) at 105 °C for 17 h. The filters were weighed after keeping in desiccator for 30 min to bring it at room temperature [46 (link)].

PHA detecting agar (500 mL) was prepared by adding 4 g of nutrient broth, 10 g of nutrient agar, and 0.25 mg of Nile blue A dye in 100 mL of distilled water, and the final volume was raised to 500 mL with distilled water. The media was sterilized in the autoclave (Model: WAC-60, Wisd, WiseStri, Germany) at 121 °C, 15 psi for 20 min. After sterilization, the media was poured aseptically in petri plates, which were pre-sterilized in Digital Oven (SNB-100, hot air sterilizer, Memmert) and stored in a Varioline Intercool cold cabinet at 4 °C until further use [70 (link),71 ].

The fungal biomass was estimated as dry weight by separating the fermentation broth and mycelia using 48 µm nylon mesh filter (SEFAR, Nitex, Heiden, Switzerland). The filters containing the collected biomass were dried in a hot air oven (SNB 100, Memmert, Schwabach, Germany) at 105 °C for 17 h. The dried filters were left to cool in a desiccator for 30 m until they reached the room temperature, and were then weighed. The concentration of dry biomass in the culture broth, denominated as DBW, is calculated from the following equation (Equation (3)): ${\left[DBW\right]}_{(g/L )}=\frac{\left(W2-W1\right)}{V}\times 0.001$
where, W₂ is the weight of the filter with biomass obtained after drying (g), W₁ is the weight of the corresponding empty filter (g), and V is the volume of sample (L).