Golden Chanterelle or a Gold Mine? Metabolites from Aqueous Extracts of Golden Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius) and Their Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities

Abstract

Cantharellus cibarius, the golden chanterelle, is the second most-collected wild edible mushroom in Europe and very frequently harvested in Croatia. Wild mushrooms have been considered a healthy food since ancient times and are today highly valued for their beneficial nutritional as well as medicinal properties. Since golden chanterelle is added to different food products to improve their nutritive value, we studied the chemical profile of aqueous extracts of golden chanterelle (at 25 °C and 70 °C) and their antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. Malic acid, pyrogallol and oleic acid were some of the main compounds identified by GC-MS from derivatized extract. p-Hydroxybenzoic acid, protocatechuic acid and gallic acid were the most abundant phenolics quantitatively determined by HPLC, with somewhat higher amounts for samples extracted at 70 °C. Antioxidant activity was determined by ferric reducing antioxidant power assay and oxygen radical absorption method, and the highest results were recorded for golden chanterelle extracted at 70 °C, being 41.54 ± 1.54 and 38.72 ± 2.47 µM TE/L, respectively. Aqueous extract at 25 °C showed the better response against human breast adenocarcinoma MDA-MB-231 (IC50 = 375µg/mL). Our results confirm the beneficial effect of golden chanterelle even under aqueous extraction conditions and highlight its significance as a dietary supplement and in the development of new beverage products.

Insights into chemical components, health-promoting effects, and processing impact of golden chanterelle mushroom Cantharellus cibarius

“…It can be inferred that a higher temperature may affect the composition of certain compounds in the extract or that the synergistic effect of compounds extracted at 25 °C is greater than those extracted at 70 °C. 145 In addition to the MTT assay, other methods have also been used to evaluate the anticancer effectiveness of CC extracts. Vasdekis et al 146 used the MTT assay to investigate the cytotoxicity of the CC methanol extract on A549 cells, and employed flow cytometry to examine its pro-apoptotic activity on A549 cells.…”

“…Similarly, the two effective extracts were found to have more selective toxicity on cancer cells compared to normal cells. 120 In addition to studying different extraction reagents, Mužinić et al 145 also investigated the anti-cancer effects of CC extracted at different temperatures using water. The MTT test results showed that the CC aqueous extract exhibited cytotoxic potential on MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells, particularly when extracted at 25 °C.…”

“…It can be inferred that a higher temperature may affect the composition of certain compounds in the extract or that the synergistic effect of compounds extracted at 25 °C is greater than those extracted at 70 °C. 145…”