Germination and Antioxidant Activity of Korean Oak Pollen Treated with Medicinal Mushrooms

Abstract

In this study, we measured antioxidant activity as DPPH radical scavenging and the total polyphenol content of pulverized and lyophilized oak pollens inoculated with fungi to confirm the husk removal effect. The total polyphenol content of oak pollen was highest in lyophilized pollen medium inoculated with Armillaria mellea, and was lowest in pollen inoculated with Lentinula edodes. Total polyphenol content of the lyophilized pollen was higher than that of the refined pollen and the pulverized pollen in oak pollen germinated with A. mellea. The total polyphenol content of the lyophilized oak pollen germinated with A. mellea was 1.4-fold higher than that extracted with water. Measurement of antioxidant activity using the DPPH (2, 2 diphenyl-1picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging method showed that the lyophilized oak pollen germinated with A. mellea had the highest and that germinated with L. edodes was lowest in antioxidant activities. The lyophilized oak pollen germinated with A. mellea was 2 to 4 times higher than that extracted with water in the antioxidant activity of DPPH free radical scavenging. Many germinated cells were formed around pore of acorn pollen inoculated with L. edodes, while those were formed at the end of hyphae derived from oak pollen inoculated with A. mellea.