Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of Mycelia of 10 Wild Mushroom Species

Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of mycelia obtained from 10 wild edible mushrooms-Armillaria mellea, Meripilus giganteus, Morchella costata, Morchella elata, Morchella esculenta var. vulgaris, Morchella hortensis, Morchella rotunda, Paxillus involutus, Pleurotus eryngii, and Pleurotus ostreatus-were investigated. For determination of antimicrobial activities of these mushrooms, ethanol extracts were examined with 11 test microorganisms by the agar well diffusion method. P. ostreatus and M. giganteus were the most active species against both bacteria and yeast. Antioxidant properties of ethanol extracts were studied by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging method. Among the mushroom extracts, M. elata showed the most potent radical scavenging activity. This research has shown that these 10 wild macrofungi have potential as natural antioxidants and antibiotics.