Lycoperdon

Abstract: Selenium is vital to human health. This article is a compendium of virtually all the published data on total selenium concentrations, its distribution in fruitbody, bioconcentration factors, and chemical forms in wild-grown, cultivated, and selenium-enriched mushrooms worldwide. Of the 190 species reviewed (belonging to 21 families and 56 genera), most are considered edible, and a few selected data relate to inedible mushrooms. Most of edible mushroom species examined until now are selenium-poor (< 1 microg Se/g dry weight). The fruitbody of some species of wild-grown edible mushrooms is naturally rich in selenium; their occurrence data are reviewed, along with information on their suitability as a dietary source of selenium for humans, the impact of cooking and possible leaching out, the significance of traditional mushroom dishes, and the element's absorption rates and co-occurrence with some potentially problematic elements. The Goat's Foot (Albatrellus pes-caprae) with approximately 200 microg Se/g dw on average (maximum up to 370 microg/g dw) is the richest one in this element among the species surveyed. Several other representatives of the genus Albatrellus are also abundant in selenium. Of the most popular edible wild-grown mushrooms, the King Bolete (Boletus edulis) is considered abundant in selenium as well; on average, it contains approximately 20 microg Se/g dw (maximum up to 70 microg/g dw). Some species of the genus Boletus, such as B. pinicola, B. aereus, B. aestivalis, B. erythropus, and B. appendiculus, can also accumulate considerable amounts of selenium. Some other relatively rich sources of selenium include the European Pine Cone Lepidella (Amanita strobiliformis), which contains, on average, approximately 20 microg Se/g dw (up to 37 microg/g dw); the Macrolepiota spp., with an average range of approximately 5 to < 10 microg/g dw (an exception is M. rhacodes with < 10 microg/g dw); and the Lycoperdon spp., with an average of approximately 5 microg Se/g dw. For several wild-grown species of the genus Agaricus, the selenium content ( approximately 5 microg/g dw) is much greater than that from cultivated Champignon Mushroom; these include A. bisporus, A. bitorquis, A. campestris, A. cesarea, A. campestris, A. edulis, A. macrosporus, and A. silvaticus. A particularly rich source of selenium could be obtained from selenium-enriched mushrooms that are cultivated on a substrate fortified with selenium (as inorganic salt or selenized-yeast). The Se-enriched Champignon Mushroom could contain up to 30 or 110 microg Se/g dw, while the Varnished Polypore (Ganoderma lucidum) could contain up to 72 microg Se/g dw. An increasingly growing database on chemical forms of selenium of mushrooms indicates that the seleno-compounds identified in carpophore include selenocysteine, selenomethionine, Se-methylselenocysteine, selenite, and several unidentified seleno-compounds; their proportions vary widely. Some aspects of environmental selenium occurrence and human body pharmacokinetics and nutritional needs will also be briefly discussed in this review.

Abstract: The arsenic contents of 162 fruit body samples of 37 common edible mushroom taxa were analyzed. The samples were gathered from different habitats of Hungary (mainly from mountains) between 1984 and 1999. The arsenic content of the samples was measured by the inductively coupled plasma spectrometry method. Very low [lower than 0.05 mg/kg dry matter (DM)] concentrations were found in the samples of 13 taxa, while higher (or very high) contents were quantified in other common taxa (the highest arsenic content was recorded in the fruit body of Laccaria amethysthea at 146.9 mg/kg DM). The species of eight genera (Agaricus, Calvatia, Collybia, Laccaria, Langermannia, Lepista, Lycoperdon, Macrolepiota) belong to the so-called accumulating taxa, and this tendency is evident on all habitats. This arsenic accumulation capability is found in two orders of Basidiomycetes (Agaricales and Gasteromycetales), which is to say this phenomenon occurs in the families Agaricaceae, Tricholomataceae and Gasteromycetaceae. The accumulating taxa found all have a saprotrophic type of nutrition; arsenic accumulation is not detectable in xilophagous or in mycorrhizal species. The consumption of the accumulating species found has only a low toxicological risk for three reasons: the consumed fresh fruit bodies contain about a tenfold lower arsenic level than the dried ones, the majority of arsenic occurs not in poisonous inorganic, but in less dangerous (or not poisonous) organic forms, and the frequency of consumption is low.

Abstract: Eight trace elements were determined using ICP–MS in 78 fruiting body samples of 22 edible mushroom species. The mushrooms were collected from four sites in a rural area, unpolluted by human activity. Median values (dry matter) were as follows: Arsenic (As) 1.45 mg kg–1, barium (Ba) 1.41 mg kg–1, cobalt (Co) 0.28 mg kg–1, copper (Cu) 47.0 mg kg–1, rubidium (Rb) 130 mg kg–1, silver (Ag) 2.95 mg kg–1, thallium (Tl) 0.02 mg kg–1 and vanadium (V) 0.25 mg kg–1. Higher trace element accumulation was observed in samples of Macrolepiota procera, Macrolepiota rhacodes, Lycoperdon perlatum, Lycoperdon gigantea and Xerocomus chrysenteron for As and Cu, and in samples of Cantharellus cibarius and of genera Boletus and Suillus for Rb.

Abstract: Two edible Nigerian macro-fungi Lycoperdon pusilum and Lycoperdon giganteum were assayed in-vitro for their antimicrobial activities using water, methanol and ethanol as extractive solvents. Generally, the extracts were selectively active on few clinical pathogenic microorganisms. Ethanol was the best extractive solvent followed in order by methanol and water (P inhibitory concentration (MIC) for the ethanolic extract was between 0.75 and 4.0mg/ml for bacteria, and between 9.00 and 13.75mg/ml for fungi. The extracts were found to be stable at temperatures up to 50oC. As the temperature was increased from 60 to 100oC, there was a significant decrease in stability of the extract. The implications of these observations are discussed.