: Chitosan, a biopolymer composed of glucosamine monomers, is industrially produced via chemical deacetylation of extracted chitin from shellfish. Recently, chitosan is produced from the cell wall of zygomaycetes fungi as an alternative source. In the cell wall of these fungi, chitosan is produced via enzymatic deacetylation of chitin. One of the most common fungal strains producing chitosan is Mucor indicus. This fungus can grow in various morphologies, including yeast like, filamentous, and a mixture of yeast like and filamentous forms. Yeast extract is necessary for growing M. indicus and chitosan production. Recent research has shown that M. indicus biomass can be converted to a source of nutrients, called fungal extract, for the fungal cultivation, replacing yeast extract. In this study, different concentrations of fungal extracts used to produce chitosan at different morphologies. According to the results, chitosan and chitin efficiency in the cells with filamentous morphology was higher than that with yeast like form. However, the yield of biomass and total chitosan production was higher for the yeast like morphology. The highest chitosan and chitin (g/g consumed glucose) for the yeast like form, grown on 10 g/L fungal extract with mineral salts, was 1.27%. The greatest yield for filamentous form, grown on 10 grams per liter fungal extract with mineral salts, was 0.70 g/g AIM. On the other hand, phosphate content of biomass grown on fungal extract was compared with biomass prepared on the base medium containing yeast extract. The results showed that the phosphate content of the biomass grown on 5 and 10 g/L fungal extracts without mineral salts were less than that on the base medium. The phosphate yield was not significantly changed by addition of fungal extract together with mineral salts. Key words: fungal chitosan, Mucor indicus , cell wall, fungal extract, residual cellular materials.
