The critical role played by vegetative inoculum volume in the development of fungal
morphology and relation to metabolite production in the fermentation culture was investigated
previously. In one such study, fungal morphology was manipulated by means of inoculum
amount, and corresponding product level was estimated [27]. The inoculum volume that
supported the pellet morphology resulted in more activity of the targeted product, while with
filamentous morphology, the scenario was just opposite. Although most of the studies on
fungal inoculum effects are spore-type based, some of the basic concepts can also be extended
for vegetative inoculum. For instance, whether it is of spore or vegetative origin, higher
population (large volume of inoculum) always ends up with either big-sized fungal pellets
or suspended mycelium due to agglomeration [28–30]. In the present case, 5 % (v/v) inoculum
caused the formation of fungal pellets with reduced diameter and increased the FA production
level to 31.3±2.77 g/L.