Mycochemical Profiling and Antioxidant Activity of Two Different Tea Preparations from Lion's Mane Medicinal Mushroom, Hericium erinaceus (Agaricomycetes)

Mushrooms have become the new superfood with their many bioactive metabolites and are potential candidates in the field of herbal medicine. Since not all mushrooms can be consumed whole, their active constituents and therapeutic benefits can be had in the form of beverages specially teas or coffees. In the present study, two forms of teas, infusion and decoction, were prepared from Hericium erinaceus (Bull.) Pers., a very popular mushroom in Chinese medicine. Both forms of tea were studied mycochemically and medicinally and a comparative view was presented on the basis of the findings. The tea preparations were rich in bioactive mycochemicals; interestingly, the infusion contained a higher amount of phenol (1.72 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of dry weight of mushrooms) than decoction (0.28 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of dry weight of mushrooms). Lycopene and β-carotene were found in very minute amounts. Both infusion and decoction exhibited good free radical scavenging potential, reducing power, and total antioxidant properties. However, the infusion fraction produced overall better results than the decoction fraction. Finally, the results suggest that H. erinaceus is a potent source of natural antioxidant and also can be consumed as a beverage.