Abstract
The methanol extracts of two edible mushrooms; Termitomyces robustus (ewe) and Lentinus squarrosulus (erirokiro) were screened for phytochemicals of medicinal importance and the chemical profile investigated using standard analytical methods with the aim of assessing their health promoting properties. Both mushrooms tested positive to flavonoids, saponin, tannin and terpenoid but negative to steroid, anthraquinone and phlobatannin. The results of proximate compositions in % were; moisture contents (7.22 ± 0.07; 11.03 ± 0.21), crude protein (31.34 ± 0.01; 42.77 ± 0.57), ash (7.07 ± 0.04; 10.45 ± 0.43), crude fibre (4.07 ± 0.18; 9.48 ± 0.04), crude fat (3.71 ± 0.16; 6.76 ± 0.22), carbohydrate by difference (24.90 ±0.11; 41.27 ± 0.19), calorific value in kcal (331.55±3.41; 342.35±3.09), and total dietary fibre (10.21 ± 0.00; 11.68 ± 0.00). The anti-nutrient factors in mg/g were; tannin (3.25 ± 0.80; 7.40 ± 0.14) oxalate (1.53 ± 0.00; 1.71 ± 0.07), and phytate (1.48 ± 0.06; 1.94 ± 0.05). Mineral elements, vitamins, essential and non-essential amino acids in substantial quantities were detected in the mushrooms. The phenolic compounds identified and quantified were gallic acid, catechin,chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, ellagic acid, epicatechin, rutin, isoquercitrin, quercitrin, quercetin and kaempferol.The mushrooms exhibited various antifungi and antimicrobial activities. The two mushrooms possessed good nutritional and chemical qualities and could be sources of many different nutraceuticals.
Highlights
Mushrooms are the higher fungi which have long been used for food and medicinal purposes
Mushrooms have been studied as novel functional food, there has been many studies on the nutritional contents of different mushroom species globally, little or no work has been carried out on chemical qualities of so many species and there is a dearth of information about polyphenolic components of the species in Nigeria
The nutritional quality of the mushrooms in terms of protein, vitamins and mineral elements revealed their potentials as nutritious foods
Summary
Mushrooms are the higher fungi which have long been used for food and medicinal purposes. Wild mushrooms are becoming more and more important in our diet due to their value as food as well as their medical and nutraceutical values (Chang and Miles, 2004). Their global economic value is increasing as a result of their nutritional, organoleptic, and pharmacological characteristics (Diez and Alvarez, 2001; Solak et al, 2006).The leading countries in mushroom production are China, US, Netherlands, India and Vietnam, according to recent FAO report (FAO, 2014; Yaoqi et al, 2014). The mushroom caps, globular at first, expands and opens out to become almost flat The objective of this study was to investigate the chemical profile of two edible mushrooms, screen them for phytochemicals and use Reverse-Phase HPLC-DAD to quantify the polyphenols present
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