Abstract
The edible fruiting bodies of desert truffles are seasonally collected and consumed in many regions of the world. Although they are very expensive, they are bought and sold as a result of considerable scientific reports confirming their health and nutritional benefits. This study aimed to conduct laboratory production of the fungal biomass of Tirmania nivea as a natural renewable resource of many active biological compounds using an artificial growth medium. The T. nivea collected from Hafar Al-Batin, which is north of Saudi Arabia, and their ascospores were harvested and used to produce fungal biomass in potato dextrose broth. The cultivation was conducted using a shaking incubator at 25 °C for two weeks at 200 rpm. The crud extracts of the fungal biomass and mycelium-free broth were prepared using ethyl acetate, methanol and hexane. Preliminary gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis and their biological activity as antimicrobial agents were investigated. The results showed that the crude extracts have biological activity against mold, yeast and bacteria. The preliminary GC–MS analysis reported that the fungal biomass and extracellular metabolites in the growth medium are industrial renewable resources of several biological compounds that could be used as antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, anticancer, antioxidant, anti-trypanosomal and anti-inflammatory agents.
Highlights
Tirmania nivea, which is locally called zubaidi, fagaa or kma’at, is an edible hypogenous fungal fruiting body
Regarding all the extracts screened in this work, the results showed that the crude methanol extract of the mycelium-free medium was the only resource of all the biological compounds listed in Table 4, compared with the other crude extracts analyzed in this work
This study investigated the preliminary chemical screening of the major volatile organic compounds of mycelia biomass produced from the ascospores T. nivea and metabolites secreted as extracellular products
Summary
Tirmania nivea, which is locally called zubaidi, fagaa or kma’at, is an edible hypogenous fungal fruiting body. T. nivea is collected seasonally from several desert environments, including Saudi Arabia’s desert. It is consumed because of its distinctive flavor and nutrient value, and it is relatively expensive due to its natural and seasonal growth associated with specific conditions and limited environments [1,2]. Desert edible fungal fruiting bodies are ethnopharmacologically used to treat eye infections and fatigue, as well as promote fertility in men [3]. Chemical analysis showed that 100 g of a dry fruiting body of T. nivea consisted of fat, protein, carbohydrates and ash at 6.78, 28.8., 57.8 and 5/100 g, respectively; ascorbic acid, carotenoids and anthocyanins at 10.6, 1.1 and 29.1/100 g; and minerals such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, sodium, phosphate, manganese and copper [4]
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