Biochemical Characterization of Some Wild Edible Mushrooms from Jammu and Kashmir

Five wild edible mushroom species, Amanita rubescens var. rubescens , Boletus edulis , Geopora arenicola , Morchella deliciosa and Sparassis crispa collected from different regions of Jammu and Kashmir were biochemically characterized for their nutritive value and a significant variation was observed among them. The total protein, phenol, crude fibre and ash content of these mushrooms were estimated on the dry weight basis which ranged from 16.2 ± 0.72 to 31.3 ± 1.15 mg/g, 5100 ± 100.0 to 11,500 ± 866.0 mg/kg, 3.9 ± 0.05 to 6.5 ± 0.50 %, 4.9 ± 0.11 to 9.9 ± 0.11 %, respectively. Also, these investigated macrofungal species were found to contain some important minerals like Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe. Of these, iron was the most dominant mineral followed by zinc, copper and manganese. This study suggests that these investigated wild edible mushrooms are rich in nutrients, minerals and due to the presence of phenols these may be used as source of natural antioxidants.