Potential of Cultivated Ganoderma lucidum Mushrooms for the Production of Supplements Enriched with Essential Elements

Abstract

Ganoderma lucidum is an important medicinal mushroom species and there is continuous interest in its bioactive properties. This study evaluated whether it may additionally serve as a nutritional supplement for the trace elements: selenium (Se), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn). Mushrooms were cultivated on substrates enriched with 0.1 to 0.8 mM of inorganic Se alone or in combination with Zn and/or Cu. Supplementation increased accumulation of the elements in fruiting bodies regardless of the applied cultivation model. G. lucidum demonstrated the ability to accumulate significant amounts of organic Se, maximally amounting to (i) over 44 mg/kg when the substrate was supplemented only with Se, (ii) over 20 mg/kg in the Se+Cu model, (iii) over 25 mg/kg in the Se+Zn model, and (iv) 15 mg/kg in the Se+Cu+Zn model. The accumulation of Cu and Zn steadily increased with their initial substrate concentrations. Maximum concentrations found after supplementation with 0.8 mM amounted to over 55 mg/kg (Se+Zn) and 52 mg/kg (Se+Cu+Zn) of Zn, and 29 mg/kg (Se+Cu) and over 31 mg/kg (Se+Cu+Zn) of Cu. The greater the supplemented concentration and number of supplemented elements, the lower the biomass of G. lucidum fruiting bodies. Nevertheless, it still remained high when the substrate was supplemented up to 0.4 mM with each element. These results highlight that G. lucidum can easily incorporate elements from the substrate and that, when biofortified, its dried fruiting bodies may serve as a nutritional source of these essential elements.

Cultivation of mushrooms for production of food biofortified with lithium

“…An artificially increased content of various elements in cultivation substrate may largely affect the growth and appearance of mushrooms and result in increased cultivation expenses as well as a decrease in the attractiveness of the final product for potential consumers and a lower market value [22,34]. As demonstrated, the cultivated species were generally more resistant to Li in the form of acetate and developed a greater mycelium colony and subsequently larger biomass of fruiting bodies.…”

“…The bioenrichment of mushrooms during their cultivation process is becoming increasingly studied as a promising strategy to produce functional foods [22,23,31]. It has been suggested that nutritional intake of Li may be beneficial for health, particularly in the prevention or amelioration of neurological and psychiatric alteration [32,33].…”

“…Its mean concentration reported for wild-growing mushrooms collected from different locations in Hungary and Italy amounted only to 0.19 and 0.25 mg kg −1 dry weight, respectively [18,19], while in cultivated Pleurotus mushrooms, Li content was found to be below detection limit [20]. Recently, however, the concept of mushrooms enriched in various elements such as selenium, zinc or copper for use as functional foods has been developed [21][22][23]. Mushrooms are a potentially rich target of such a biofortification strategy owing to their ability to accumulate various elements present in the overgrown substrates [24].…”

Comparison of multielemental composition of Polish and Chinese mushrooms (Ganoderma spp.)

“…This observation can be attributed to (1) inter-specific differences in uptake of elements from overgrown substrate, (2) different contents of elements in the overgrown substrates, or (3) both. It has been widely demonstrated that mushrooms, including Ganoderma spp., can be grown on different substrates, not only in terms of their type but also origin and quality [25][26][27][28]. Moreover, different species of the Ganoderma genus may require different conditions for growth and cultivation [29].…”

“…As demonstrated in the present study, the Se was detected only in some fruiting bodies with the highest mean contents identified for cultivated G. capense (1.37 mg kg −1 ) and G. lucidum (1.41 mg kg −1 ). Importantly, Ganoderma mushrooms were shown to incorporate a high share of Se in organic forms (even when supplemented with inorganic salts) through which the biological role of this element is exerted [28,36]. All tested mushrooms contained detectable levels of Ge, a non-essential element that at low doses has been reported to exert potentially beneficial effects through antitumor, antioxidant, and antimutagenic activities [37].…”