Bioactive metabolites from edible fungi: evaluation of antioxidant potential and cytotoxicity on human cell lines

In this study, we analyzed bioactive compounds from six edible wild mushrooms: <i>Amanita caesarea</i>, <i>Amanita vaginata</i>, <i>Amanita rubescens</i>, <i>Clitocybe gibba</i>, <i>Laccaria laccata</i>, and <i>Ramaria apiculata</i>. The fruiting bodies were used to extract the compounds using methanol. Qualitative screening revealed that anthraquinones are predominantly found in <i>R. apiculata</i>. The highest amounts of flavonoids and total phenols, were found in <i>A. caesarea</i>, (17.4 mg GAE/g and 205.0 mg GAE/g, respectively). When quantifying antioxidant activity using DPPH, no differences were observed, except in <i>C. gibba</i>. However, with ABTS, <i>L. laccata</i> showed the highest activity (402.6 ± 42.4 µM Trolox/mg). The biological activity of the fungal extracts was also evaluated. Toxicity assays on <i>Artemia salina</i> showed LD₅₀ values ranging from 27.6 to 118.6 µg/mL, indicating variying levels of toxicity depending on the species. Moreover, the extracts showed cytotoxic on various cancer cell lines. Specifically, <i>C. gibba</i> exhibited activity against MCF-7, HCT-15, CaOV3, and HeLa cells; <i>A. vaginata</i> was effective against MCF-7 cells; and <i>L. laccata</i> showed activity against HCT-15 and PC3 cells. These findings indicate that the evaluated fungal extracts contain metabolites associated with antioxidant and in vitro cytotoxic activities. However, further chemical characterization and mechanistic studies are required before suggesting potential pharmacological applications.