Nutritional composition and antioxidant capacity of several edible mushrooms grown in the Southern Vietnam

Mushrooms are a good source of nutrients. They are popular in daily food over the world. This study was conducted to evaluate the nutritive values, total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of five popular Vietnamese edible mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus, Volvariella volvacea, Lentinula edodes, Auricularia polytricha and Ganoderma lucidum). Protein, lipid, ash and total carbohydrate contents ranged from 7.2 – 36.6%, 1.7 – 3.0%, 1.4 – 9.0% and 52.3 – 88.6%, respectively, on a dry weight basis. P. ostreatus, V. volvacea, L. edodes and G. lucidum contained large amounts of total free phenolic compounds, which exhibited significant antioxidant capacity of the extracts. In addition, the total bound phenolic content of G. lucidum was also high resulting in high antioxidant capacity of the extract. The findings show that the edible mushrooms can be used not only as nutritious foods but also as pharmaceutical medicines with high antioxidants.