Phytochemical Screening, Proximate Composition and Mineral Activities of Four Selected Nigerian Mushrooms

The study examined the phytochemical screening, proximate composition and mineral activities of four selected mushrooms. Four fungi (Calocybe indica, Pleurotus pulmonarius, Auricularia sp, and Pleurotus ostreatus) were collected and phytochemical, proximate and mineral contents were determined. Results showed that moisture content was observed to be highest in Auricularia sp. (46.8 %), C.indica (46.8 %) protein (10.31 %), ash (2.72 %), fat (3.2 %), fibre (3.7 %) and CHO (38.36 %) were observed to be highest in P. ostreatus, while ash was observed to be lowest in C. indica (2.0 %). Potassium (0.33 %), calcium (0.14 %), manganese (0.28 %) and phosphorus (0.31 %) were observed to be highest in P. ostreatus, sodium (0.15 %) was observed to have highest value in P. pulmonarius, while sodium (0.3 %) was lowest in C. indica. For macromineral iron (70.65 %), zinc (16.53 %), magnesium (6.39 %) and copper (3.54 %) were observed to be highest in P. ostreatus, while copper (1.83 %) was observed to be lowest in C. indica. Phytochemical screening revealed that alkaloid (0.54 %), phenol (0.35 %) and saponin (0.47 %) were highest in P. ostreatus, while tannin was observed to have the highest values in P. ostreatus (0.07 %) and P. pulmonarius (0.07 %). These bioactive compounds and nutritional contents in C. indica, P. pulmonarius, Auricularia sp, and P. ostreatus may be responsible for their nutritional and therapeutic uses. These results therefore not only make mushrooms popular to consume as food sources but also make them valuable in drug development.