Determination of Heavy Metal Content in Wild-Edible Mushroom from Jordan

Abstract

The heavy metal content was investigated for six mushroom species native to Jordan. Metal (Cu, Pb, Cd, Fe, Zn, Mn, Ni, and Co) content in soil substrate and their relation to metal concentrations in mushroom and underlying soil were determined by flame and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. Mushroom species and soil were collected from different places in Jordan. The highest Cu level was 51.84 µg g−1 for the species Lepista nuda; whereas, the lowest Cu level was found to be 18.51 µg g−1 in Calvatia utriformis. Among the wild mushrooms, the highest Pb level was found as 4.81 µg g−1 in Bovista plumbea, whereas the lowest Pb concentration was 2.01 µg g−1 in Calvatia utriformis. The highest Cd level was determined as 1.9 µg g−1 for Lepista nuda, whereas the lowest Cd level was 0.58 µg g−1 for the species of Polyporus frondosus. The highest Zn level was 58.77 µg g−1 for the species of Lepista nuda and the lowest Zn concentration was found 35.98 µg g−1 in Calvatia utriformis. The highest Fe level was found as 317 µg g−1 in Lepista nuda, whereas the lowest Fe concentration was 211.7 µg g−1 in Calvatia utriformis. The highest Mn content was 36.55 µg g−1 for Russula delica, whereas the lowest Mn level was 24.5 µg g−1 for the species Bovista plumbea. The highest Ni content was found as 12.65 µg g−1 for Russula delica, whereas the lowest Ni level was 0.17 µg g−1 for Bovista plumbea. The highest Co content in the tested mushrooms was found as 3.5 µg g−1 for the species of Agaricus bisporus, whereas the lowest Co level was 0.85 µg g−1 for Polyporus frondosus. The results indicated that, in general, heavy metal contents in all mushroom species were lower than the underlying soil substrates except for some mushroom species.