Studies to exploit wild mushrooms as a source of biologically active compounds are gaining importance in the recent years. In that view, the present study was carried out to evaluate the bioactive compounds of six wild edible mushrooms: Lentinus squarrosulus Mont., Auricularia auricular-judae (Bull.) Wettst., Mycetinis copelandii (Desjardin) A.W. Wilson & Desjardin, Baeospora myosura (Fr.) Singer, Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq. ex. fr) Kummer and Volvariella volvacea (Bull. ex. Fr.) Singer. The specimen was subjected to phytochemical screening using gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GCMS) with the view to identify the important volatile constituents. The dried sporocarp was subjected to methanol extraction using a Soxhlet extractor and rotatory evaporator. This led to the identification of 14, 26, 33, 5, 49 and 32 different compounds in L. squarrosulus, A. auricular-judae, M. copelandii, B. myosura, P. ostreatus and V. volvacea respectively. n-Hexadecanoic acid; 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z)- and 2(3H)-Furanone where the most frequently occurring compounds across the studied mushrooms. The identified compound reportedly shows diverse bioactive activities, including antiviral, anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant, hypocholesterolemic, anaphylactic, narcotic, neurostimulant, emollient, expectorant, laxative, pesticidal, insecticidal and insectifugal activities. This data may provide baseline information about the bioactive constituents of these species from Nigeria, in providing valuable compounds of substantial medicinal and agricultural importance.

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Inedible mushrooms are endowed with diverse nutritional and nutraceutical compounds. In this study, the amino acid profile, and phytochemical fingerprints of four selected wild inedible mushroom species from Oban Division of Cross River National Park (CRNP), Nigeria including Crepidotus applanatus (Pers.) P. Kumm, Daldinia concentrica (Bolton) Cesati & de Notaris, Oxyporus populinus (Schumach.) Donk and Trametes versicolor (L.) Lloyd were investigated. The fresh sporocarps of study mushroom were collected from the decaying wood during July 2018. Samples for amino acids profiling were dried to constant weight, defatted, hydrolyzed, evaporated in a rotary evaporator and loaded into the cartridge of the Applied Biosystems PTH Amino Acid Analyzer and analyzed for 45 minutes. The samples for phytochemical analysis were subjected to methanol extraction using a Soxhlet extractor and rotatory evaporator and injected into the column of an Agilent gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GCMS). The results of amino acid analysis revealed the presence of ten essential and eight non-essential amino acids in varying quantities across the species. The total amino acid content was highest in C. applanatus followed by D. concentrica, T. versicolor, and O. populinus in decreasing order. Glutamic acid, Arginine, and Aspartic acid were present in the highest amounts while Cystine, Lysine, and Histidine were the least across the species. The phytochemical screening of the samples led to the identification of 24 different compounds in D. concentrica, six compounds each in C. applanatus and O. populinus and three compounds in T. versicolor. In terms of percentage composition, 4H-Imidazo(1,5-a)(1,4)benzodiazepine-3-carboxylic acid, 5,6-dihydro-5-methyl-6-oxo-, ethyl ester, 1-Methylbicyclo[3.2.1]octane, Acetamide, N-(6-acetylaminobenzothiazol-2-yl)-2-(adamantan-1-yl)- and 9,19-Cyclolanost-24-en-3-ol, (3.beta.)-,TMS derivative were the most dominant compounds in C. applanatus, D. concentrica and T. versicolor respectively. The identified compound reportedly shows diverse bioactive activities, including antiviral, anticancer, antioxidant, hypocholesterolemic, anaphylactic, neurostimulant, pesticidal, insecticide and insecticidal activities. This data may represent the baseline information on the amino acid profiles and bioactive constituents of inedible mushroom species from Nigeria, as sources of noble compounds of substantial nutritional, medicinal and agricultural importance.

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The present study investigates the floral diversity of the Lagos coastal environments by sampling 21 points using the quadrat method. The study revealed two major aquatic ecosystem types (mangrove and freshwater swamp) and recorded 125 species belonging to 108 genera and 49 families. While Alchornea cordifolia and Raphia hookeri were found as the most frequent, Acalypha crenata and Acrostichum aureum were the least abundant species. The highest and lowest species‐rich locations were Unilag (n = 125 species) and Abule Osun (n = 2 species), respectively. The vegetation structure of the LCE is dominated by herbaceous species. Our findings provide insights on the flora diversity of the LCE, and a guideline for the effective conservation of near‐threatened species such as Nauclea diderrichii and Mitragyna stipulosa in this coastal ecosystem is presented.