Comparative Assessment of Antifungal and Antibacterial Activities of Crude Extracts of the King Tuber Culinary-Medicinal Mushroom, Pleurotus tuber-regium (Agaricomycetes) from Cameroon.

Antifungal and antibacterial activities of crude extracts of carpophore compared with those of sclerotium of Pleurotus tuber-regium were investigated on 11 species of bacterial and 3 fungal human pathogens. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of carpophore extract was recorded to be 12.5 mg/mL on Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia cloacae, Proteus mirabilis, P. vulgaris, Klebsiella oxytoca, and K. aerogenes and 6.25 mg/mL on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Mycobacterium smegmatis as well as on all three species of fungal pathogens including Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus, and A. ochraceus. In comparison, the MIC of sclerotium was recorded to be 12.5 mg/mL on Bacillus subtilis and Klebsiella aerogenes; 6.25 mg/mL on Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Enterobacter cloacae, E. coli, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Proteus mirabilis, P. vulgaris, and Klebsiella oxytoca; and 3.13 mg/mL on the three fungal pathogens. Based on the abovementioned figures, it appears that strains of pathogenic fungi tested are much more sensitive to crude extracts than the abovementioned bacteria. In fact, antimicrobial activities of crude extracts of P. tuber-regium, no matter whether it is that of the carpophore or its sclerotium, are in general stronger on human pathogenic fungi than bacteria. These figures also demonstrate that crude extracts of sclerotium show a higher antimicrobial activity than that of carpophore. Carpophores and sclerotia of P. tuber-regium could therefore constitute a source of new molecules potentially more efficient than synthetic products against some human pathogenic fungi and bacteria.

Nutrient content of some mushroom species of the genus Termitomyces consumed in Cameroon.

The nutrient content (water, lipids, proteins, ashes, crude fibres) of six mushroom species (Termitomyces le Testui, T. aurantiacus, T. schimperi, T. mammformis, T. mboudaeïna Mossebo sp. nov., and T. subcypeatus forme bisporus sp. nov.) of the genus Termitomyces from Cameroon was determined. These mushrooms have a high water content (83.3-94.3 g/100 g wet matter) and contain more lipids than species from temperate countries (2.5-5.4 g/100 g dry weight), with high proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids (45.1-65.1% of total fatty acid methyl esters) and remarkable proportions of crude fibres (17.5-24.7 g/ 100 g dry weight). Their protein content varied between 15.1 and19.1 g/100 g dry weight and ash content between 5.2 and 14.4. The species T. mammiformis was found particularly rich in minerals with 14.4 g ash/ 100 g dry material, that is up to 2.4 g/100 g fresh weight.