Antioxidant Activities of Selected Medicinal Mushroom Submerged Cultivated Mycelia

Medicinal mushrooms fruiting bodies have been used as food or medicine for years but cultured mycelium is faster to grow and costs less. This research studied the antioxidant activities of three species (five strains) of medicinal mushroom mycelia (Cordyceps militaris, Ganoderma tsugae I and II, Trametes versicolor I and II). Two-stage extractions were performed: first the sample was extracted with 70% ethanol, and then the residue was extracted with 95°C hot water. Both ethanolic and hot water extracts showed effective concentration (EC50) values of 0.29-4.22 mg/mL, indicating that these extracts were remarkably effective in antioxidant activities. The ethanolic extracts displayed more effective reducing power, scavenging, and chelating ability (EC50 0.33-2.37 mg/mL) than hot water extracts (EC50 0.58-4.22 mg/g). Besides, ethanolic extracts contained higher total phenol content (75.49-144.99 GAE mg/g) than the hot water extracts (22.77-58.68 GAE mg/g). Furthermore, the ethanolic extracts contained flavonoids but not the hot water extract. Overall, these mycelia were highly effective in the antioxidant activities and might be potent antioxidants.