Chemical composition and non-volatile components of three wild edible mushrooms collected from northwest Tunisia

Abstract

In Tunisia, many people collect wild edible mushrooms as pickers for their own consumption. The present work aims at contributing to the determination of the chemical composition, non volatile components content (soluble sugars, free amino acids) and minerals and trace elements of three popular Tunisian wild edible mushrooms species collected from the northwest of Tunisia (Agaricus campestris, Boletus edulis and Cantharellus cibarius).All investigated mushrooms revealed that these species are rich sources of proteins (123.70 – 374.10 g kg-1 dry weight (DW)) and carbohydrates (403.3 – 722.40 g kg-1 DW), and low content of fat (28.2 – 39.9 g kg-1 DW); the highest energetic contribution was guaranteed by C. cibarius (1542.71 kJ / 100 g). A. compestris (33.14 mg/g DW) showed the highest concentration of essential amino acids. The composition in individual sugars was also determined, mannitol and trehalose being the most abundant sugars. C. cibarius revealed the highest concentrations of carbohydrates (722.4 g kg-1 DW) and A. compestris the lowest concentration (403.3 g kg-1 DW). Potassium (K) and sodium (Na) are the most abundant minerals in analyzed samples (A. compestris showed the highest concentrations of K and Na, 49141.44 and 9263.886 µg/g DW respectively).