Abstract
Chemical elements in the samples of wild edible mushrooms of the <em>Morchella</em> group collected from different unpolluted Sicilian sites was analyzed by the ICP-MS (method) to detect the content of their minerals and determine whether soil geology and geochemistry can influence the chemical composition in fungi. Results showed that the mushroom samples mainly contained a high concentration of K and P and a wide variety of minor and trace elements (V, Mo, Pb, Ce, Cs, Zr), including heavy metals. Statistical analysis showed that the mushrooms differed in their content of minor and trace elements based on the geological/geographic site of origin. Comparison with other studies showed differences in the content detected in the Sicilian morels with those collected from other geographical sites. Conversely, different fungal species collected from similar geological sites in Sicily showed different patterns of accumulation of the elements confirming that bioconcentration in fungi is species- and site-dependent.
Highlights
It is well known that fungi accumulate chemical elements from their environment, from soils and soil solutions [1,2,3,4,5,6]
The capacity of accumulation and the presence of chemical elements in the fruiting bodies [7] of fungi depend on their nutritional requirements and can differ on the basis of genetic characteristics, several authors have confirmed that the content of elements in both micro- and macrofungi is mainly influenced by the chemical composition of the surrounding environment [8,9,10]
The ability of fungi to take up elements makes them useful soil quality indicators as well as potential bioremediation agents for substrata contaminated with toxic elements such as heavy metals, metalloids, and radionuclides [11,12,13,14,15,16]
Summary
It is well known that fungi accumulate chemical elements from their environment, from soils and soil solutions [1,2,3,4,5,6]. The mineralogical composition of soil influences the availability of chemical elements and the mycelia of fungi absorb and accumulate all kinds of elements from their growth substrates. The capacity of accumulation and the presence of chemical elements in the fruiting bodies [7] of fungi depend on their nutritional requirements and can differ on the basis of genetic characteristics, several authors have confirmed that the content of elements in both micro- and macrofungi is mainly influenced by the chemical composition of the surrounding environment (water, air, and soil) [8,9,10]. The presence of heavy metals in edible and nonedible fungal species from both, polluted and unpolluted sites, has been analyzed [1,2,3,5,9,17].
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