In vitro evaluation of the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of the mushroom Hericium erinaceus

The present study describes the results of in vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of the crude extract and the hydroethanolic, hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate fractions and supercritical extract of the mushroom Hericium erinaceus cultivated in Brazil. The fractions originated from a crude extract derived from cold maceration technique. Its antioxidant activity was evaluated based on its ability to scavenge the 1,1-difenil-2-picrihidrazil radical while the anti-inflammatory activity was assessed using human lymphocytes and acetylcholinesterase enzyme. It was found that the hexanic extract, crude extract and dichloromethane extract presented the most scavenging antioxidant properties (approx. IC50 10.0 µg/mL) whereas the anti-inflammatory essay showed that the only extract capable of significantly (p<0.05) inhibit acetylcholinesterase activity was the fluid supercritical extract (1%). Overall, Hericium erinaceus grown in Brazil, in a tropical climate, was found to present health promoting action with promising studies to be conducted in order to deeply assess its biological effects in vivo to explore its medical properties in dietary supplements and in pharmaceuticals industries.