Phytochemical Constituents and in-vitro Antioxidant Activity of Aqueous Extracts of Mushrooms (Pleurotusostreatus & Agaricussp)

Antioxidants help to scavenge free radicals and thus, provide health benefits. This study reports the in-vitro radical scavenging capacity of aqueous extracts from the mushrooms (Agaricus sp. & Pleurotus ostreatus). The main objective of this research was to determine the phytochemical constituents, nitric oxide scavenging activity, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, and DPPH-scavenging activity of aqueous extracts of Agaricus & Pleurotus. These parameters would give an indication of the possible antioxidant abilities of these extracts. Extracts of the two mushrooms with concentrations ranging from 0.02 to 0.10 mg/ml were prepared and their antioxidant activities evaluated using the standard antioxidants tannic acid and ascorbic acid as the control. For percentage scavenging of nitric oxide radicals, Agaricus sp. recorded 58.74% whereas Pleurotus ostreatus had 54.62%with respect to their highest concentration (100µg/ml). For percentage scavenging of DPPH radicals, Agaricus sp. recorded 24.83% whilst Pleurotus ostreatus recorded 29.79% and for percentage scavenging of hydroxyl radicals, Agaricus sp recorded 21.74% as against 64.94% recorded for Pleurotus ostreatus with respect to their highest concentration (100µg/ml). Results demonstrated that the extracts scavenged free radicals in concentration-dependent manner, just like the standards. Aqueous extracts of the mushrooms (Agaricus sp & Pleurotus ostreatus) demonstrated antioxidant activity in-vitro and can therefore be beneficial in the prevention and treatment of diseases which occur due to reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species generation.

Keywords: Phytochemicals, antioxidants, reactive oxygen species (ROS), Pleurotus ostreatus, Agaricus sp.