Antioxidant Activity of Two Wild Edible Mushrooms (Morchella vulgaris and Morchella esculanta) from North Turkey

The ethanol extracts of Morchella vulgaris (EEMV) and Morchella esculanta (EEME) were analysed for their antioxidant activities in different systems including reducing power, free radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, total antioxidant activity, and metal chelating activity. EEMV and EEME had similar reducing power, free radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, and metal chelating activity at concentrations of 50, 100, and 150 μg/mL. These various antioxidant activities were compared to standard antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and α-tocopherol. The percent inhibition of different concentrations of EEMV on peroxidation in the linoleic acid system was 85 and 87 % respectively, which was greater than that of 100 and 250 μg/mL of α-tocopherol (50 and 77%, respectively) and similar to 250 μg/mL of BHA (85, 87%, respectively). The percent inhibition of different concentrations of EEME on peroxidation in the linoleic acid system was 80 and 87 % respectively, which was greater than that of 100 and 250 μg/mL of α-tocopherol (50, 77%) and similar to 250 μg/mL BHA (87%). On the other hand, the percent inhibition of 100 and 250 μg/mL of BHT was 97 and 99%, respectively. In addition, the total phenolic compounds in EEMV and EEME were determined as gallic acid equivalents. Keywords: Antioxidant activity, mushroom, Morchella vulgaris, Morchella esculanta