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Bioactive potential of preparations made from various medicinal mushrooms in terms of their polyphenolic and polysaccharides content

Due to the widespread use in traditional medicine of east-Asian countries, medicinal mushrooms have become the focus of extensive scientific research in the past few decades. The preventive and therapeutic properties of many mushroom species have been proven. The consumption of mushrooms contributes to human nutrition through provision of low content of lipids and high content of dietary fibers and polysaccharides, but it also provides a significant content of biologically active compounds such as minerals, vitamins and polyphenolic antioxidants. New emerging results point to potentially positive health effects which arise from the consumption of a polyphenol-rich diet. Due to high variability and a large number of mushrooms species, chemical composition and the content of phytochemicals in different mushrooms differ significantly. In order to enable their further use in medicinal purposes, an exact characterisation of all bioactive substances of medicinal mushrooms is necessary, as well as revealing their biological effects and mechanisms of action. Therefore, the purpose of this study was the characterisation of biologically active compounds, more specifically polyphenols and polysaccharides, as well as the determination of antioxidative properties of several medicinal mushroom preparations. The content of total phenols and flavonoids of mushroom preparations of blended mushroom extracts(Lentifom, Superpolyporin, Agarikon, Agarikon+, Agarikon.1 and Mycoprotect.1) were evaluated quantitatively by using UV/Vis spectrophotometric methods. Antioxidant capacity of the preparations was evaluated by using the ABTS (2, 2`-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) and FRAP (ferric reducing/antioxidant power) assays. The content of total and water-soluble polysaccharides was determined using a specific gravimetric method, based on ethanol precipitation. The obtained results suggest that due to the significant content of beneficial polyphenolic antioxidants and soluble polysaccharides the consumption of these mushroom preparations should become more represented in the modern lifestyle in order to achieve the necessary daily intake of beneficial bioactive compounds as well as adjuvant help in various human pathological aberrations.

Antioxidant capacity; Medicinal mushrooms; Polyphenols; Polysaccharides

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