Elemental characteristics of mushroom species cultivated in China and Poland

Abstract

China is the first and Poland the fifth the greatest producers of cultivated mushrooms worldwide. Because new species are being domesticated and gaining popularity there is a need to study their biological activities and chemical composition. In this study, a multi-elemental analysis was conducted on 14 culinary and/or medicinal mushroom species cultivated in China and Poland, all of which were available in German and Polish oriental and internet shops (Agaricus bisporus, Amauroderma rude, Auricularia auricula-judae, Auricularia nigricans, Ganoderma lucidum, Lentinula edodes, Lignosus rhinocerus, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, Pleurotus ostreatus, Sparassis crispa, Tremella fuciformis, Wolfiporia cocos and Volvariella volvacea). Overall, the contents of 5 macroelements and 31 trace elements were quantified. The studied mushrooms varied widely in their content of both essential and toxic deleterious elements. A. rude was found to contain the highest content of toxic deleterious elements Al, As and Pt. Platinum content was of particular concern as it exceeded 7 mg kgö1 dry matter. The studied mushrooms were generally found to contain higher amounts of Pt, Ni (particularly W. cocos), and rare-earth elements Er and Nd (particularly V. volvacea) than reported in many literature data. The study generally concludes that the levels of various elements in the analysed mushrooms are not toxic, although further attention should be paid to reducing Ni levels in commercial mushrooms available as culinary.