*3.3. Fermentation*

The fungal strain was cultured on a solid YPG medium (5 g of yeast extract, 5 g of peptone, 10 g of glucose, 24.8 g of Instant Ocean, and 16 g of agar in 1 L of distilled water) for 7 days. An agar plug (1 × 1 cm) was inoculated for 7 days in a 250 mL flask that contained 100 mL of YPG medium. Then, 10 mL of each culture was transferred to a 2.8 L Fernbach flask containing semi-solid rice medium (200 g of rice, 0.5 g of yeast extract, 0.5 g of peptone, and 12.4 g of Instant Ocean in 500 mL of distilled

water). In total, 2000 g of rice media were prepared and cultivated for 35 days at 28 ◦C, agitating once every week.
