Re: What kinds of nutrients does Rhizopus stolonifer(bread mold) need to grow?

Although Rhizopus stolonifer is commonly called a bread mold, it can grow on a wide variety of foods and plants, causing food spoilage and diseases of plants in the field. It does well in fairly acid conditions, so it likes fruit as well as bread. Living things need a source of carbon and of nitrogen to grow. The carbon source is used both to make new mold materials and as an energy source. Molds usually do best in air, so they can use oxygen to make efficient use of the energy in their carbon source.

Fruits contain a variety of sugars that can serve as carbon sources, whereas bread and cereals contain starches that may be broken down into sugars. Even celluloses, which are plant structural materials, are made up of units of sugar. Rhizopus and many other molds produce special enzymes that allow them to break down starch and cellulose to their component sugars, which the mold then uses for energy building material. Plant proteins and their constituent amino acids are the usual sources of nitrogen for the production of mold proteins. Mineral elements, especially potassium, are also important, as shown in a recently published study from Nigeria.

The reason molds like Rhizopus are everywhere is that their spores are carried by air and can germinate to use nutrients in many foods and plants by producing digestive enzymes that break down vegetable materials. Versatility of enzyme production is the trademark of Rhizopus stolonifer.

Odeniyi, O.A., A.A. Onilude, and M.A. Ayodele. Growth and substrate utilization patterns of a Rhizopus stolonifer strain isolated from depolymerising rice husk. World Applied Sciences Journal 6 (5): 595-599, 2009.