Abstract: It was assessed that the growth characteristics and succession rules of fungi involved in the fermentation of Fu brick tea during the winter and summer seasons in Hunan Province, China. 27 fungal strains were isolated and identified, and it was investigated that the growth and sporulation on different media, different carbon and nitrogen sources, and under different temperatures. The results showed that all fungi were able to grow on culture medium containing tea juice. Mycelium grew faster and were more prone to spore production in culture media with monosaccharides or disaccharides as the carbon source and organic nitrogen as the nitrogen source. The optimum growth temperature ranged at 25-30℃ for most fungi. The temperature higher than 30℃ or lower than 25℃ inhibited the growth of fungi. However, there were some differences between strains, it meant the different stain and succession rules of fungal strains during Fu brick tea fermentation in different seasons were closely related to the biological characteristics of fungi.

Key words: Fu brick tea, microorganisms related to fermentation, biological characteristics