Abstract
Eleven different wild-edible mushroom species growing in the Black Sea region of Turkey were analysed for their metal content. Specimens of mushrooms were gathered in Trabzon, Giresun and Ordu and analyzed for 31 minerals, four of which (Be, Sb, Te and Ti) were not detected. Whereas some minerals including Ag, As, Cd, La, Mo, Pb, Se, Y and Zr were detected in just a few mushroom species, another 18 minerals were found in all 11 species. All metal concentrations were expressed on a dry weight basis (d.w.). With regard to nutritionally important amounts of essential and trace minerals, the metal content (µg/g d.w.) of mushroom samples ranged from 21,800-39,800 for K, 2590-14,000 for P, 268-1600 for Ca, 561-1210 for Mg, 74-829 for Fe, 11.2-321 for Cu, 36.2-241 for Zn, 14.1-76.5 for Mn and 0.13-2.85 for Co. Small amounts of toxic metals such as As, Cd and Pb were found in all 11 mushroom species. L. laccata contained a large amount of As (145 µg/g d.w.). These results show that the investigated mushrooms can be a useful component for human diets because of their high content of many essential minerals and trace elements and low content of toxic metals.
Highlights
Hunger has increased in the world over the past several years due to rising food prices and food scarcity caused in part by the diversion of farmland from the production of foods to the generation of ethanol for motor vehicles
Eleven different wild-edible mushroom species growing in the Black Sea region of Turkey were analysed for their element content
Laccaria laccata contained a large amount of As (145 μg/g d.w.). These results show that the investigated mushrooms can be a useful component for human diets because of their high content of many essential minerals and trace elements and low content of toxic metals
Summary
Hunger has increased in the world over the past several years due to rising food prices and food scarcity caused in part by the diversion of farmland from the production of foods to the generation of ethanol for motor vehicles These circumstances have led populations in many parts of the world to search for alternative food sources that would contribute to satisfying their nutritional needs. The macrofungi that includes numerous wild-edible and cultivated species do not normally constitute a large portion of the human diet; interest in the consumption of wild and cultivated mushrooms is increasing in many countries due to awareness of their high content of various essential nutrients, including trace minerals [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. The fact that wild mushrooms accumulate large amounts of both macro- and trace minerals has prompted researchers to analyze them for their metal contents, especially since many mushrooms accumulate high levels of heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, lead, copper and arsenic [3,11] that can have severe toxicological effects on humans, even at very low levels
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