Si-Fu Song’s research while affiliated with Chia-Yi Agricultural Experiment Station and other places

Four specialty mushrooms are commercially available in Taiwan, including Dictyophora indusiata (basket stinkhorn), Grifola frondosa (maitake), Hericium erinaceus (lion's mane), and Tricholoma giganteum (white matsutake). Methanolic extracts were prepared from these specialty mushrooms and their antioxidant properties were studied. The antioxidant activities at 1.2 mg ml−1 were in the order of basket stinkhorn>lion's mane>maitake>white matsutake. Basket stinkhorn showed an excellent reducing power of 1.09 at 3 mg ml−1. At 6.4 mg ml−1, scavenging effects on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals were 92.1% for basket stinkhorn and 63.2–67.8% for other specialty mushrooms. At 40 mg ml−1, scavenging effects were 75.0 and 69.4% for basket stinkhorn and lion's mane and 39.6 and 47.4% for maitake and white matsutake, respectively. At 24 mg ml−1, chelating effects on ferrous ions were 91.9% for basket stinkhorn and 46.4–52.0% for other specialty mushrooms. Total polyphenols were the major naturally occurring antioxidant components found in the methanolic extracts from these specialty mushrooms.

Four speciality mushrooms are commercially available in Taiwan, including Dictyophora indusiata (basket stinkhorn), Grifola frondosa (maitake), Hericium erinaceus (lion's mane), and Tricholoma giganteum (white matsutake). Protein contents ranged from 14.6 to 22.3%. Carbohydrate contents were high in basket stinkhorn and white matsutake (67.0 and 70.1%) and low in maitake and lion's mane (58.8 and 57.2%, respectively). Contents of total soluble sugars showed two distinct levels, white matsutake (349 mg g−1) and other mushrooms (153–188 mg g−1). Total free amino acid contents ranged from 7.41 to 12.3 mg g−1. Contents of monosodium glutamate-like components ranged from 0.68 to 1.09 mg g−1. Contents of flavor 5′-nucleotides were high in white matsutake, moderate in basket stinkhorn, and low in lion's mane and maitake. In this study, the four speciality mushrooms, in addition to their characteristic appearances, were distinctly different in both their proximate compositions and their taste components.