Evaluation of antimicrobial and antioxidant potential of German mushrooms

Some mushroom species have been known for their medical properties for centuries and are now used mainly in Asian countries for their antioxidant, antimicrobial and antitumor potential among other things. The use of medicinal mushrooms is not very common in European countries and chemical, biological or pharmacological information is rare. This study investigates the biological activity of 20 selected wild mushrooms harvested from northern Germany. For this, dichloromethane, methanol and aqueous extracts of the dried fruiting bodies were obtained by Soxhlet extraction. The extracts were tested for their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities.

The antioxidant activity was evaluated by the DPPH method. A concentration-dependent increase in DPPH scavenging activity was found in all extracts, whereas methanol extracts possessed the most potent activity compared to those of the dichloromethane and aqueous extracts. The lowest effect was observed for aqueous extracts. The highest DPPH scavenging activity was found in the dichloromethane extract of Boletus radicans (31.25 µg/ml, 98.29%).

Antibacterial activity was screened by agar disk diffusion method against ESKAPE pathogens. Clitopilus prunulus dichloromethane and methanol extracts showed the best antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus with 27 mm and 22 mm inhibition zone respectively. The highest antibacterial activity was observed for dichloromethane extracts followed by methanol extracts. This study did not reveal any antibacterial activity for aqueous extracts against the six strains.

These findings show that mushroom extracts are a valuable source for natural antioxidants and antibacterial agents.

 

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publication History

Article published online:
16 November 2023