Antibacterial and antifungal Activities of Crude Ethanolic Extracts of Wild Edible Mushrooms Found in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania

The increasing occurrence of antimicrobial resistance necessitates search for alternative bioactive compounds against microbes, in particular natural products from plants and mushrooms. A cross-sectional investigation was carried out from November 2023 to March 2024 to investigate the antimicrobial properties of crude ethanolic extracts of wild edible mushrooms in Morogoro Municipality. The crude ethanolic extracts tested were from eight wild edible mushrooms namely Afrocantharellus platyphyllus, Amanita sp, Cantharellus sp, Cantharellus luteopunctatus, Craterellus sp, Lactarius kabansus, Lentinus sp, and Termitomyces sp. The mushroom ethanolic extracts were tested against Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Salmonella typhi (ATCC 33459) and Candida albicans (ATCC 90028) using agar well diffusion and tetrazolium microtiter plate bioassay methods. Five of the eight crude ethanolic extracts of mushroom species tested revealed promising antibacterial and antifungal activity. The mean zone of inhibition for extracts of Craterellus sp, Cantharellus sp, C. luteopunctatus, A. platyphyllus, and L. kabansus ranged from 9.70 ± 0.33mm (Mean ± StdDev) to 17.00 ± 0.57 mm. The recorded minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) value for these extracts varied from 5.2 ± 1.11 to 266.67 ± 66.70 mg/ml. Staphylococcus aureus, S. typhi, P. aeruginosa, and C. albicans were more susceptible to ethanolic extracts of Craterellus and Cantharellus sp. None of the extracts demonstrated an inhibitory effect on the growth of B. subtilis. This study indicates that some wild edible mushrooms from the Morogoro Municipality exhibit potential antimicrobial effects against both bacterial and fungal species. Therefore, additional research is advised to isolate and identify the bioactive compounds and to evaluate their efficacy and toxicity in animal models to confirm their antibacterial and antifungal properties.