is a fast polysaccharide producer among species.

The selection of fast-growing and high-yield-producing strains is required to satisfy the market demand on fungal food supplements. To that aim, three strains deposited in our collection as and were screened for polysaccharide production and biomass yield. strains deposited as were identified as and by nuc rDNA internal transcribed spacer ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS) and translation elongation factor 1-α () phylogenies. The identity of was confirmed by molecular phylogeny and biogeography. Additionally, mycelial antagonism confirmed species differentiation, and strains were further distinguished by morphology and protein profiles. Biomass and polysaccharide yields of were clearly different from those of and in both liquid culture and solid-state fermentation. The maximum polysaccharide yield (4.52 ± 0.83 g L) for was obtained from submerged cultures at day 9. also achieved the highest linear growth in lignocellulosic solid substrates. Consequently, basidiomata were successfully obtained by solid-state fermentation in polypropylene bags, whereas and mushrooms were not produced in artificial solid substrates. , a species frequently collected in America, showed to be a promising polysaccharide producer for the manufacture of dietary supplements.