Abstract
Five selected wild edible mushrooms from Romania (Agaricus bisporus, Pleurotus ostreatus, Cantharellus cibarius, Boletus edulis, and Lactarius piperatus) were investigated for their antioxidant potential using an ABTS spectrophotometric assay. Among the selected mushrooms, B. edulis displayed the highest radical scavenging activity and the greatest phenolic content, measured by the Folin–Ciocalteu reagent method. The total flavonoids were quantified using the aluminum chloride colorimetric method, with the extract of B. edulis being the richest. L. piperatus and B. edulis mushrooms exhibited the strongest antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli. The content of trace elements was determined using an atomic absorption spectrometer, and it was found that K and Mg were the main metals present in all the selected mushroom species. The obtained results suggest that the studied wild edible mushrooms are natural functional matrices, and may have potential to be used as natural antioxidants if they are introduced into the daily diet.
Highlights
Today, the attention of consumers is focused more and more on healthier and safer food products, rich in bioactive compounds that can provide the body’s necessary nutrients, and the energy required for the modern lifestyle
On the other hand the results indicate that P. ostreatus and A. bisporus had similar inhibitory activity against all the tested microorganisms, which is in accordance with literature data [31]
In the case of the other elements identified in the mushroom extracts, the results revealed that C. cibarius had the highest Cu, Fe, and Ba concentrations, while B. edulis had the highest Mn, and Co concentrations
Summary
The attention of consumers is focused more and more on healthier and safer food products, rich in bioactive compounds that can provide the body’s necessary nutrients, and the energy required for the modern lifestyle. Due to their nutritional components, many researchers consider edible mushrooms as the generation food, with potential benefits from a nutritional point of view and from a medical one; considering that for their unique properties they could be used for the treatment of different diseases like tumors and nervous disorders [6,7]. Romania’s mountains, such as the Carpathian Mountains, are recognized as a significant source of wild edible mushrooms for Europe, which could supply different species of wild edible mushrooms Despite their great potential, there have only been a few published studies regarding the bioactive compounds and antimicrobial activity of Transylvanian wild edible mushrooms [4,13,15,16]. In order to emphasize the potential benefits of some Transylvanian wild edible mushrooms, the present study aims to determine the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, total phenolic and total flavonoid contents, and the elemental profile of the selected mushrooms species
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