Many lignicolous mushroom species are used as a food supplement and may represent an alternative treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study aimed to evaluate acetylcholinesterase inhibition (AChEI) of Stereum hirsutum together with antioxidant activity (AO) and cytotoxic activity against HepG2 cells. Different extracts (water, ethanol, methanol, polysaccharide) were analyzed, with respect to their mineral composition and chemical content. Ethanol extract was the most potent in AChEI (98.44 %) and demonstrated cytotoxic activity (91.96 % at 900.00 μg/mL), while the highest AO was demonstrated for polar extracts (methanol and water) as well. These activities may be attributed to determined phenolics (hydroxybenzoic and quinic acid) and fatty acids (FA), while biflavonoid amentoflavone may be responsible for cytotoxic activity. The most prevalent FA was linoleic (40.00 %) and the domination of unsaturated FA (UFA) (71.91 %) over saturated (26.96 %) was observed. This is the first report of AChEI of S. hirsutum extracts and first detection of amentoflavone. Due to high amount of UFA and well-expressed AChEI, this species can be considered as a potent food supplement in the palliative therapy of AD.

Trametes versicolor and Flammulina velutipes, after submerged cultivation, with intermittent exposure to ultraviolet light (UV), were studied for Total Phenolic content (TP) and Total Proteins (TPR) contents and antioxidant properties against free radicals. The TP and TPR were determined by a spectrophotometric method and Lowry’s assay, respectively. Liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) was used to quantify polyphenols. Different in vitro assays determined the antioxidant activities of the extracts. Mycelia extract from F. velutipes after 14 days and filtrate from T. versicolor after 21 days of incubation gave the highest TP 59.60 ± 0.14 and 50.03 ± 0.66 mg GAE/g d.w., respectively. Mycelia extract from T. versicolor after 28 days of incubation had the highest TPR (183.53 ± 2.84 mg BSAE/g d.w.). The LC-MS/MS analysis indicated that p-hydroxybenzoic and protocatechuic acids are the most abundant. Trametes versicolor filtrate after 14 days and F. velutipes filtrate after 21 days (71.29 ± 0.54% and 73.5 ± 1.81, respectively) had the highest scavenging activity in SOA. Correlation analysis indicated that all extracts’ antioxidant (AO) potential strongly correlated with TP (R2 = 0.83–1.0). The data confirmed that stress factors such as UV exposure could stimulate the production of secondary metabolites and natural AOs, especially phenolic acids in test fungi.

In recent years, fungi have been recognized as producers of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors, agents important for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study aimed to examine the AChE inhibitory, the antioxidative and antibacterial activity of two different Schizophyllum commune strains that originated from Serbia (SRB) and Italy (IT). Submerged cultivation of grown mycelia (M) and fermentation broth (F) of ethanol (EtOH) and polysaccharide (PSH) extracts lasted for 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. For AChE activity Ellman method was performed, while for antioxidative activity, sevendifferent assays were conducted: DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, SOA, OH, NO together with total phenolic content. Antimicrobial screen, LC–MS/MS technique and FTIR measurements were performed. Different isolates exhibited different AChE activity, with PSH being the strongest (SRB, M, 28 days IC90 79.73 ± 26.34 µg/mL), while in EtOH extracts, IT stood out (F, 14 days, IC50 0.8 ± 0.6 µg/mL). PSH extracts (7 days) exhibit significant antioxidative activity (AO), opposite to EtOH extracts where 14 and 21days periods stood out. Only tw extracts showed antibacterial activity. Following LC–MS/MS analysis p-hydroxybenzoic and gallic acids were the most abundant phenolics. PSH extracts demonstrated remarkable results, making this study debut and introducing S. commune as a valuable resource of AChE inhibitors.

The aim of this systematic review was to investigate new research on the antioxidant, anti-acetylcholine, antimicrobial, and antitumor activity of genus Schizophyllum, as well as to describe the mycochemical profiles. A summary was made on the published studies in the five-year period from 2017 to 2022, with the focus on the most investigated species of this genus, S. commune. Data were obtained through various scientific online databases, including Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, Elsevier, and Wiley Online Library using specific keywords. Out of 918 records published between 2017 and 2022, a total of 44 peer-reviewed studies were included in qualitative synthesis. Most examined compounds were glucans isolated from the submerged cultivation of S. commune, even though many studies reported proteins, phenolics, and some other secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, saponins, steroids, tannins, triterpenoids, etc. Schizophyllan (SPG), one of the most studied β-glucans isolated from S. commune, has been utilized in clinical trials to treat patients receiving anticancer therapy as an immunopotentiator. Considering the enormous biopotential of genus Schizophyllum, specifically S. commune and S. radiatum, additional attention should be paid to identify the biomolecules more accurately and focus on their antitumor and anti-acetylcholinesterase properties, since they proved to have great prospects in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries.

Multidrug resistance of human isolates of bacteria that cause vaginal infections is one of most recent topics in scientific investigations along with the search for novel antimicrobial drugs originating from nature. Monitoring of antimicrobial activity of traditionally used herbal essential oils may give us basic perspective and directions for future studies design. Antimicrobial activity of commercial essential oil (EO) of Origanum vulgare against human clinical isolates of bacteria and Candida was determined by microdilution method, obtaining minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal/fungicidal concentration (MBC/MFC) (CLSI protocol). Both investigated strains of Candida as well as all bacterial strains, except P. aeruginosa, showed susceptibility to investigated EO. The most susceptible strain was Gram positive S. aureus1 strain unlike S. aureus2 which indicates strain specificity. Both Gram negative E. coli isolates (E. coli1 and E. coli2) showed resistance to all tested antibiotics in this study, and susceptibility to oregano EO at 12.5 ?l/ml. GC/MS analysis identified a total of 35 components (96.13%) in commercial oregano EO, with the most dominant phenol carvacrol (64.12%). Our data suggest that oregano EO possess potent antimicrobial activity and that human vaginal isolates shows strain specificity in antimicrobial susceptibility.