Diversity, nutritional composition and medicinal potential of Indian mushrooms: A review

Mushrooms are the higher fungi which have long been used for food and medicinal purposes. They have rich nutritional value with high protein content (up to 44.93%), vitamins, minerals, fibers, trace elements and low calories and lack cholesterol. There are 14,000 known species of mushrooms of which 2,000 are safe for human consumption and about 650 of these possess medicinal properties. Among the total known mushrooms, approximately 850 species are recorded from India. Many of them have been used in food and folk medicine for thousands of years. Mushrooms are also sources of bioactive substances including antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antioxidant, antiinflammatory, anticancer, antitumour, anti-HIV and antidiabetic activities. Nutriceuticals and medicinal mushrooms have been used in human health development in India as food, medicine, minerals among others. The present review aims to update the current status of mushrooms diversity in India with their nutritional and medicinal potential as well as ethnomedicinal uses for different future prospects in pharmaceutical application.Keywords: Mushroom diversity, nutritional value, therapeutic potential, bioactive compoundAfrican Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 13(4), pp. 523-545, 22 January, 201

Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized Using Wild Mushroom Show Potential Antimicrobial Activities against Food Borne Pathogens

The present study demonstrates an economical and eco-friendly method for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using the wild mushroom Ganoderma sessiliforme. The synthesis of AgNPs was confirmed and the products characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) analysis was performed to identify the viable biomolecules involved in the capping and active stabilization of AgNPs. Moreover, the average sizes and morphologies of AgNPs were analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The potential impacts of AgNPs on food safety and control were evaluated by the antimicrobial activity of the synthesized AgNPs against common food-borne bacteria, namely, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus faecalis, Listeria innocua and Micrococcus luteus. The results of this study revealed that the synthesized AgNPs can be used to control the growth of food-borne pathogens and have potential application in the food packaging industry. Moreover, the AgNPs were evaluated for antioxidant activity (DPPH), for biocompatibility (L-929, normal fibroblast cells), and for cytotoxic effects on human breast adenosarcoma cells (MCF-7 & MDA-MB231) to highlight their potential for use in a variety of bio-applications