Total Phenolic and Flavonoid Content and Antioxidant Activities of Ten Malaysian Wild Mushrooms

Abstract

Mushrooms have been studied and found to accumulate a variety of secondary metabolites with antioxidant activities such as phenolic compounds. Besides phenolics, other bioactive components such as flavanoids from mushrooms are also generally associated with antioxidant activities. Previous studies have reported the association of mushrooms with their antioxidant potentials. However, very few studies are related to unexplored Malaysian wild mushrooms as a new potential source of antioxidant for which to best of our knowledge, no records are available. In this study, ten Malaysian wild mushrooms were collected from the forests around Selangor and Sabah and their potential antioxidant activity were evaluated. The total phenolic content and total flavonoid content were quantified. Antioxidant activities of the mushroom extracts were analyzed by Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays for their iron-reducing capacity and free-radical scavenging capacity. The total phenolic content of all ten mushrooms ranged from 0.015-0.075 mg GAE/g dried extract and the total flavonoid content ranged from 0.025-0.131 mg QE/g dried extract. The FRAP values lies between 0.859-2.929 μM TE/g dried extract and the percentage of inhibition observed from DPPH assay ranged from 2%-57% respectively. There is a positive correlation between total phenolic content and antioxidant activities of these mushroom extracts.