Wild mushrooms from East Black Sea Region (Turkiye): Element concentrations and their health risk assessment

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the mineral contents of wild edible mushrooms. The potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) contents of twenty four edible mushrooms, collected from East Black Sea Region, Türkiye, were analyzed. The studied mushrooms varied widely in their content of both essential and toxic deleterious elements. The minimum and maximum mineral contents of mushrooms were determined as mg/kg dw for K (4573-15645), Mg (173-1421), Ca (24-711), Mn (5.34-90.64), Fe (44.78-236.95), Zn (24.81-119.03), Cu (11.02-174.01), Ni (0.95-2.86), Cd (0.05-22.57) and Pb (0.01-2.07). The potassium content was found to be higher than those of the other minerals in all the mushrooms. In addition to the metal contents, the daily intakes of metal (DIM) and Health Risk Index (HRI) values of edible mushrooms were also calculated. Lead and cadmium were present but at concentrations that are not hazardous to human health except for Russula vinosa. The K, Mg, Zn, and Ni concentrations were determined to be high in Russula integra. Mushrooms have become increasingly attractive as functional foods for their potential beneficial effects on human health. Due to the toxic minerals they carry, mushrooms should be taken into consideration during their consumption as human food. The differences and similarities between mineral contents were established by Principal Component Analysis. Also, mushrooms are important in the ecosystem because they are able to biodegrade the substrate and to collect heavy metal.