ABSTRACT
Fortnightly survey in control and fire-impacted regions of scrub jungle of south-west coast of India during south-west monsoon (50 m2 quadrats up to 10 weeks) yielded 34 and 25 species of macrofungi, respectively. The species as well as sporocarp richness were the highest during the fourth week, while the diversity attained the highest during the second week in control region. In fire-impacted region, the species and sporocarp richness and diversity peaked at sixth week. Seven species common to both regions were Chlorophyllum molybdites, Lepiota sp., Leucocoprinus birnbaumii, Marasmius sp. 3, Polyporus sp., Schizophyllum commune and Tetrapyrgos nigripes. The overall sporocarp richness was higher in fire-impacted than in control region. The Jaccard's similarity between regions was 13.5%, while fortnights of regions ranged from 0% (10th week) to 11.7% (eighth week). Control region showed single-species dominance by Xylaria hypoxylon, while multispecies dominance by Cyathus striatus and Lentinus squarrosulus in fire-impacted region. Except for air temperature, nine abiotic factors significantly differed between control and fire-impacted regions. The Pearson correlation was positive between species richness and phosphorus content in fire-impacted region (r = 0.696), while sporocarp richness was negatively correlated with pH in control region (r = -0.640). Economically viable species were 12 and 10 without overlap in control and fire-impacted regions, respectively.
ABSTRACT
The wild mushroom Astraeus hygrometricus is a traditional delicacy during the monsoon season in South-western India. Bioactive principles and antioxidant potential of uncooked and pressure-cooked tender mushroom have been evaluated. Seven bioactive principles of mushroom (tannins, flavonoids, vitamin C, phytic acid, lycopene, ß-carotene and trypsin inhibition) were significantly higher, while total phenolics content was significantly lower in uncooked than in cooked samples. Mushroom was devoid of L-DOPA, whereas only uncooked samples showed haemagglutinin activity against A+ blood group. The principal component analysis of uncooked mushroom showed only two bioactive principles clustered with two antioxidant properties, while in cooked mushroom five bioactive principles clustered with three antioxidant properties depicting the nutraceutical potential of cooked mushroom. Future studies should focus on appropriate thermal treatment, which retain maximum bioactive and antioxidant potential to combat health- and lifestyle-related ailments. The A. hygrometricus is ectomycorrhizal, conservation of its host tree species is utmost importance in improvement and expansion of its yield to sustain food security and economic gains of local tribals.
