Nutritional value and metal content of wild edible mushrooms collected from West Macedonia and Epirus, Greece

Ten wild edible mushroom species (Cantharellus cibarius, Rusula delica var chloroides, Ramaria largentii, Hygrophorus russula, Amanita caesaria, Fistulina hepatica, Boletus aureus, Armillaria tabesceus, A. mellea, Lepista nuda) from West Macedonia and Epirus, regions of Northern Greece, were analysed for their basic composition (moisture, crude protein, crude fat, total carbohydrates and ash) and metal content profile (Mg, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Al, As and Sn). The moisture content of mushrooms varied from 8.66% (L. nuda) to 17.43% (C. cibarius). The dry matter of mushrooms contained 21.57% (C. cibarius) – 34.77% (A. caesaria) proteins, 2.10% (A. mellea) – 6.00% (H. russula) fat, 5.61% (Russula delica) – 9.44% (C. cibarius) ash and 53.33% (H. russula) – 66.87% (A. tabesceus) carbohydrates.The metal content of mushroom samples ranged 688.7–1150.7 for Mg, 0.12–5.34 for Cr, 7.19–62.63 for Mn, 38.9–499.0 for Fe, 0.05–7.22 for Co, 0.76–9.93 for Ni, 7.38–75.06 for Cu, 34.43–98.99 for Zn, not detected–1.16 for Pb and 0.07–1.80 μg/g for Cd. As, Sn and Al concentrations were under the detection limit of the method used. The detection limits of the method for As, Sn and Al are 0.02 μg/g for each element.