ABSTRACT
The antioxidant activity of organic extracts of eight fungal species, Ganoderma lucidum, Ganoderma applanatum, Meripilus giganteus, Laetiporus sulphureus, Flammulina velutipes, Coriolus versicolor, Pleurotus ostreatus and Panus tigrinus, was evaluated for free radical (DPPH· and OH·) scavenging capacity and an effect on lipid peroxidation, and the antibacterial activity was tested by the agar well diffusion method. The highest DPPH· scavenging activity was found in the methanol extract of G. applanatum (12.5 µg/mL, 82.80%) and the chloroform extract of G. lucidum (510.2 µg/mL, 69.12%). The same extracts also showed the highest LP inhibition (91.83%, 85.09%) at 500 µg/mL, while the methanol extracts of G. applanatum and L. sulphureus showed the highest scavenging effect on OH· radicals (68.47%, 57.06%, respectively) at 400 µg/mL. A strong antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria was also manifested. The antioxidative potencies correlated generally with the total phenol content (0.19-9.98 mg/g). The HPLC determination showed that the majority of analysed species contained gallic and protocatechic acids. Consequently, these fungi are shown to be potential sources of antioxidative and antibacterial agents.
Subject(s)
Agaricales/chemistry , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Free Radical Scavengers/pharmacology , Ganoderma/chemistry , Anti-Bacterial Agents/isolation & purification , Biphenyl Compounds/chemistry , Free Radical Scavengers/isolation & purification , Gram-Positive Bacteria/drug effects , Hydroxybenzoates/analysis , Hydroxyl Radical/chemistry , Lipid Peroxidation/drug effects , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Phenols/analysis , Picrates/chemistryABSTRACT
The activities of naturally occurring radionuclides (7)Be, (214)Bi and (210)Pb were measured in samples of terrestrial mosses collected in Serbia (42 degrees 26'19''N-45 degrees 23'12''N). The objective of this work was to establish if detectable amounts of (7)Be and (210)Pb can be found in mosses and investigate their possible variabilities over some area. These are the first steps in introducing mosses as a medium in possible monitoring of spatial distribution of (7)Be atmospheric deposition. The mean value of 360 Bq/kg of (7)Be activity was found in collected moss samples and some nonuniformity in spatial distribution (a 2.8-fold range in measured values) was observed.
