Arsenic and cadmium content in edible mushrooms from São Paulo, Brazil determined by INAA and GF AAS

Importance of low substrate arsenic content in mushroom cultivation and safety of final food product

“…This indicates that A. bisporus is potentially able to take up only certain forms of As, effectively excluding others-the mechanism which is likely behind its high tolerance rather than biotransformation of inorganic forms to less toxic organic As compounds. The comparison of total As content in edible mushrooms available through retail sale in Brazil also demonstrates that A. bisporus contains levels which can be considered as safe [20]. Along with our experimental Fig.…”

“…Importantly, the inorganic As content was largely increased in both strains even after as little as 0.1 mM of each studied form was added to the substrate, indicating a high ability of P. ostreatus to bioconcentrate As from the ambient environment. It was, however, reported that cultivated P. ostreatus and P. eryngii contain significantly lower As levels, but none of these investigations described the chemical characteristics of the substrate [20,33]. These mushroom species, particularly P. ostreatus, can therefore be considered as those requiring 'special care', where the purity of the substrate is essential for production of a safe food product.…”

“…On the other hand, the total As content (As total ) in the fruiting bodies can greatly vary from concentrations below 0.05 mg kg −1 DW [17] up to 1420 mg kg −1 DW [18] and is likely determined by species-specific biological features and the level of environmental or substrate contamination [19,20].…”

Screening the Multi-Element Content of Pleurotus Mushroom Species Using inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES)

“…The reported Cd contents of A. bisporus, P. ostreatus, and L. edodes from Hungary showed the content of Cd in caps to be 0.17 ± 0.13, 0.91 ± 0.32, and 0.71 ± 0.48 mg kg −1 dm, respectively ; while on sale in Brazil, t h e c o n t e n t o f C d r a n g e d b e t w e e n 0 . 0 11 a n d 0.23 mg kg −1 dm (Maihara et al 2008). The maximum content of Pb permitted by the European Union regulation in cultivated A. bisporus, P. ostreatus, and L. edodes is 3.0 mg kg −1 dm (assuming 90 % moisture) (cited after Gucia et al 2012).…”

“…Studies of cultivated P. ostreatus from the European market by Costa-Silva et al (2011) showed that Se was at 0.10 ± 0.01 to 0.26 ± 0.20 mg kg −1 dm, while the Se content of samples from the USA was 0.2 mg kg −1 dm (Hong et al 2011). Cultivated mushrooms A. bisporus, P. ostreatus, P. florida, P. eryngii, and L. edodes contained As in amounts ranging between 0.009 and 0.210 mg kg −1 dm (Maihara et al 2008). However, no maximum permitted levels have yet been set for inorganic As and methylmercury, although they are the most toxic species of As and Hg, respectively (Cordeiro et al 2015).…”