Bioactive microconstituents and antioxidant properties of wild edible mushrooms from the island of Lesvos, Greece

Abstract Crude composition, fatty acids, sterols, total phenolic content (TPC), individual polyphenols and terpenic acids were determined in five wild edible mushrooms species ( Lactarius deliciosus , Lactarius sanguifluus , Lactarius semisanguifluus , Russula delica , Suillus bellinii ) from Lesvos Island, Greece. In addition, the DPPH scavenging capacity, the ferric ion reducing power (FRAP) and the ferrous ion chelating activity of mushroom methanolic extracts were assessed. Among sterols, ergosterol predominated at concentrations 9.2–18.0 mg/100 g fw. Total phenolic content of mushroom extracts ranged from 6.0 to 20.8 mg GAE/100 g fw. Up to 19 simple polyphenols were determined in mushrooms extracts, the more abundant being p- OH-benzoic acid, p -OH-phenylacetic acid, o -coumaric acid, ferulic acid and chrysin. In addition, the triterpenic acids oleanolic and ursolic were detected for the first time in mushrooms. All species exerted antioxidant activity and ferrous ion chelating capacity. Principal component analysis revealed good correlations between TPC, DPPH and FRAP but not with metal chelating activity. It seems that mushrooms polyphenols exert antiradical and reducing activities, but they are not strong metal chelators, the observed chelating ability being probably due to other classes of compounds. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the bioactive microconstituents and antioxidant activity of wild Greek edible mushrooms.