Chemical Composition of Four Wild Edible Mushroom Species Collected From Southwest Anatolia

Abstract

Four different species of wild edible mushrooms (Armillaria mellea, Infundibulicybe geotropa, Meripilus giganteus and Sparassis crispa) representing four different families (Physalacriaceae, Tricholomataceae, Meripilaceae and Sparassidaceae) growing in southwest regions of Anatolia were analyzed for their Fe, Na, K, Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb contents and ash, dry matter, protein, and fat levels. All mineral concentrations were determined on a dry weight basis (d.w.). The mineral content of mushroom samples ranged from 54.00 to 112.33 mu g/g d.w. for Fe, 66.50 to 117.33 mu g/g d.w. for Na, 32.33 to 117.00 mu g/g d.w. for K, 47.40 to 87.40 mu g/g d.w. for Zn, 54.30 to 74.67 mu g/g d.w. for Cu and not detected for Cd and Pb. Na content was higher than other minerals in all mushroom species. This research proves that wild edible fungi can be used in well-balanced diets due to their nutritive values. Also, their heavy metal contents (Pb, Cd) shows that collection areas are not polluted, therefore all collected mushroom species can be unreservedly consumed without any health risk.