Investigation of Heavy Metals, Residual Pesticides and Nutrient Component from Agricultural By-products Imported as Medium Substrates for Mushroom Cultivation

Abstract

BACKGROUND:For the food safety of cultivated mushroom, information on the safety of agricultural by-products imported as medium substrates for mushroom cultivation is urgently needed. Therefore, this study was performed to detect the presence of heavy metals, residual pesticides, and nutrient component in the imported medium substrates. METHODS AND RESULTS:Six kinds of medium substrates imported from nine countries from 2015 to 2017 were investigated. A mercury analyzer MA-2000 and an inductively coupled plasma spectrometer OPTIMA 7000DV were used to analyze mercury, lead, arsenic, copper, nickel and cadmium. All of these heavy metals were detected at lower level than heavy metal tolerance standard level of by-product fertilizer in Korea. When 246 kinds of residual pesticides were examined by GC and HPLC, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and carbendazim were detected from Egyptian beet pulp, Indian cottonseed meal and cottonseed hull, respectively. The content of nutrient components (water, crude ash, crude fat, crude protein and crude fiber) varied among imported countries and the medium substrates. CONCLUSION: The presence of heavy metals and residual pesticides in imported medium substrates for mushroom cultivation was confirmed. For the safe production of mushroom, this study shows that imported medium materials for mushroom cultivation need to be managed through continuous monitoring.