Radionuclide content and risk analysis of edible mushrooms in northeast China

Insights into the Chemical Compositions and Health Promoting Effects of Wild Edible Mushroom Chroogomphus rutilus

Chroogomphus rutilus is an edible mushroom that has been an important food source since ancient times. It is increasingly sought after for its unique flavor and medicinal value. It is one of the most important wild mushrooms for its medicinal and economic value. C. rutilus contains a variety of active ingredients such as vitamins, proteins, minerals, polysaccharides, and phenolics. C. rutilus and its active compounds have significant anti-oxidant, anti-tumor, immunomodulatory, anti-fatigue, hypoglycemic, gastroprotective, hypolipemic, and neuronal protective properties. This paper summarizes the fungal chemical compositions and health-promoting effects of C. rutilus by collecting the literature on the role of C. rutilus through its active ingredients from websites such as Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science. Current research on C. rutilus is limited to the cellular and animal levels, and further clinical trials are needed to conduct and provide theoretical support for further development.

Edible Mushrooms for Sustainable and Healthy Human Food: Nutritional and Medicinal Attributes

Global food production faces many challenges, including climate change, a water crisis, land degradation, and desertification. These challenges require research into non-traditional sources of human foods. Edible mushrooms are considered an important next-generation healthy food source. Edible mushrooms are rich in proteins, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other bioactive components (alkaloids, lactones, polysaccharides, polyphenolic compounds, sesquiterpenes, sterols, and terpenoids). Several bioactive ingredients can be extracted from edible mushrooms and incorporated into health-promoting supplements. It has been suggested that several human diseases can be treated with extracts from edible mushrooms, as these extracts have biological effects including anticancer, antidiabetic, antiviral, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, immune-potentiating, and hypo-cholesterolemic influences. The current study focuses on sustainable approaches for handling edible mushrooms and their secondary metabolites, including biofortification. Comparisons between edible and poisonous mushrooms, as well as the common species of edible mushrooms and their different bioactive ingredients, are crucial. Nutritional values and the health benefits of edible mushrooms, as well as different biomedical applications, have been also emphasized. Further research is needed to explore the economic sustainability of different medicinal mushroom bioactive compound extracts and their potential applications against emerging diseases such as COVID-19. New approaches such as nano-biofortification are also needed to supply edible mushrooms with essential nutrients and/or to increase their bioactive ingredients.

Green Synthesis of Nanoparticles by Mushrooms: A Crucial Dimension for Sustainable Soil Management

Soil is the main component in the agroecosystem besides water, microbial communities, and cultivated plants. Several problems face soil, including soil pollution, erosion, salinization, and degradation on a global level. Many approaches have been applied to overcome these issues, such as phyto-, bio-, and nanoremediation through different soil management tools. Mushrooms can play a vital role in the soil through bio-nanoremediation, especially under the biological synthesis of nanoparticles, which could be used in the bioremediation process. This review focuses on the green synthesis of nanoparticles using mushrooms and the potential of bio-nanoremediation for polluted soils. The distinguished roles of mushrooms of soil improvement are considered a crucial dimension for sustainable soil management, which may include controlling soil erosion, improving soil aggregates, increasing soil organic matter content, enhancing the bioavailability of soil nutrients, and resorting to damaged and/or polluted soils. The field of bio-nanoremediation using mushrooms still requires further investigation, particularly regarding the sustainable management of soils.

137Cs and 40K activity concentrations in edible wild mushrooms from China regions during the 2014–2016 period

Introduction. Contamination by radiocaesium of edible wild mushrooms after major nuclear accidents is a long-lasting process in some regions of the world. Following greater awareness of radioactive pollution in Asia, particularly after the Fukushima accident, this study investigated the radioactivity of 137Cs and 40K contamination in edible wild mushrooms in China. Study objects and methods. The objects of the research were edible wild mushrooms collected during 2014 to 2016, from the Inner Mongolian and Yunnan regions of China. To obtain an insight into any environmental impacts to distant regions of mainland Asia, the mushrooms were analyzed for 137Cs activity. In parallel, the natural activity of 40K was also determined and used to estimate the content of total K. The topsoil underneath the mushrooms was also investigated from a few sites in Bayanhushu in Inner Mongolia in 2015. Results and discussion. The results showed that in 4 to 6 mushrooming seasons after the accident, mushrooms from both regions were only slightly contaminated with 137Cs, which implied negligible consequences. The activity concentrations of 137Cs in dried caps and whole mushrooms in 63 of 70 lots from 26 locations were well below 20 Bq kg–1 dry weight. Two species (Lactarius hygrophoroides L. and Lactarius volemus L.), from Jiulongchi in Yuxi prefecture showed higher 137Cs activities, from 130 ± 5 to 210 ± 13 Bq kg–1 dw in the caps. 40K activities of mushrooms were around two- to three-fold higher. A composite sample of topsoil (0–10 cm layer) from the Bayanhushu site (altitude 920 m a.s.l.) in Inner Mongolia showed 137Cs activity concentration at a low level of 6.8 ± 0.7 Bq kg–1 dw, but it was relatively rich in potassium (40K of 595 ± 41 Bq kg–1 and total K of 17000 ± 1000 mg kg–1 dw). Conclusion. Wild mushrooms from the Yunnan and Inner Mongolia lands only slightly affected with radioactivity from artificial 137Cs. Lack of 134Cs showed negligible impact from Fukushima fallout. Ionizing radiation dose from 137Cs in potential meals was a fraction of 40K radioactivity. The associated dietary exposure to ionizing irradiation from 137Cs and 40K contained in mushrooms from the regions studied was considered negligible and low, respectively. Mushroom species examined in this study are a potentially good source of dietary potassium.