Physiological activity and nutritional composition of pleurotus species

In this study, the anti-oxidant, anti-tumorigenic, anti-hypertensive, anti-thrombic, anti-diabetic, and antiinflammatory properties of 18 different species of genus Pleurotus were investigated. In addition, the amino acid, β-glucan, and polyphenol content were also measured. All species contained more than 20 mg% of polyphenol with the highest contents found in Pleurotus cornucopiae var. citrinopileatus (yellow pleurotus) (39.13±0.82 mg%). The β-glucan contents was also the highest in yellow Pleurotus (37.67±0.22%) followed by Won-Hyeong1 (C, 28.75±0.61%) and Jang-an PK (A, 27.95±0.33%). The yellow Pleurotus exhibited the highest antioxidant activity as assessed by the DPPH scavenging rate with an IC ₅₀ value of 2.94±0.44 mg/mL. Ethanol extracts from the yellow Pleurotus treated at 1% concentration showed cytotoxic activity up to 36.9% in the human embryonic kidney 293T cell lines. The yellow Pleurotus also showed the highest inhibitory effects on ACE activity (60.52±0.2%). Finally, the yellow Pleurotus exhibited anti-diabetic and antiinflammatory properties as shown by inhibition of α-amyloglucosidase activity (50.5±0.8%) and nitric oxide production (68.4±0.3%). Taken together, our data indicate the yellow pleurotus is a promising functional food ingredients.