Extending the knowledge on secondary metabolites and the effect of solvent of extraction in mushrooms, We investigated five mushrooms species; two cultivated edible (Agaricus bisporus (brown) and Agaricus bisporus (white); and three wild medicinal edible mushrooms Trametes versicolor, Ganoderma applanatum and Fomes fomentarius for total phenolic, total flavonoid and condensed tannins content. The study also compared the effect of different solvents (i.e. distilled water, methanol and ethanol) of extraction on phenolic profiles in the mushrooms species. The analyses of the phenolic profiles were carried out using the ferrous tartrate method and concentration calculated using tannic acid equivalence (TAE) for total phenolic content and propylgallate acid equivalence (PGAE) for total flavonoids contents on defrozen fresh weight (FW) basis. Results indicated that type of solvent of extraction and type of mushroom species affects the amount of the secondary metabolites. The total phenolic, flavonoid and condensed tannin content were around 4.07-147.78 mg/mL (TAE) FW and 8.13-138.80 mg/mL (PGAE) FW respectively. Variations were observed between mushrooms species metabolites using different solvent of extraction; thus differences among mushroom were dependent on the solvent used aside the different species of mushrooms studied. The study implies that studies of mushroom metabolites may differ depending on which solvent and cultivar is used. Therefore standard guidelines for testing natural bioactive compounds need developing.
