Antioxidant/antiradical properties of microwave-assisted extracts of three wild edible mushrooms

• Antioxidant properties of three wild edible mushroom species were investigated.
• Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) was used to extract phenolics from mushroom.
• Optimization of MAE conditions was performed by optical sensor-based CUPRAC method.
• Boletus edulis showed highest phenolic content, antioxidant capacity/activity.

A microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) process for polyphenols from three wild edible mushrooms was studied. The optimal extraction conditions were found to be methanol concentration of 80%, extraction temperature of 80 °C, and extraction time of 5 min. Different antioxidant assays (i.e., total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and total phenolic content (TPC)) were utilized to evaluate the antioxidant capacity of the methanolic extracts of Terfezia boudieri Chatin, Boletus edulis, and Lactarius volemus. The reactive species scavenging activities of these extracts were also investigated in vitro. High contents of phenolic and flavonoid compounds may be the major contributors to the observed high antioxidant activities of these extracts. B. edulis showed the higher TAC and TPC; highest inhibitory effect on DPPH and on other studied reactive oxygen species (ROS). MAE showed obvious advantages of high extraction efficiency with lower solvent consumption in terms of high antioxidant capacity/activity of extracts achieved within the shortest time.