The investigation of cytotoxic effects, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities in some edible macrofungus strains growing in Tunceli region

In this study, the cytotoxic effects and antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of methanolic extracts from Agaricus campestris, Morchella esculenta, Morchella vulgaris, Amanita vaginata, Langermannia gigantea, Pleurotus eryngii var. ferulae and Pleurotus eryngii var. eryngii collected from Tunceli region were examined. Antioxidant activities of methanolic extracts from 7 species, collected from 3 locations were detected through total radical antioxidant potential (TRAP) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) tests by using the peroxidation of phosphatidylcholine liposomes induced by iron and ascorbic acid (LPO), 2,2-diphenyl-1-pikrilhidrazil (DPPH•) free radical scavenger and ABTS•+ radical cation. Besides, the total amount of phenolic compounds and flavonoids of these species was identified. It was detected that methanolic extracts of the studied species have DPPH• radical scavenging antioxidant activity. In addition, it was also found that the antioxidant activity of the fungi extracts change correspondingly with the increase of the concentration. According to the calculated EC50 values, the most active one is A. campestris, while L. gigantea is the least active one. Tested species were found to have ABTS•+ radical cation suppressor activity too. According to the calculated EC50 values, among the fungi showing statistically (p>0.05) similar activity, A. campestris, M. vulgaris and M. esculenta were discovered to have the highest antioxidant activity, whereas P. eryngii var. ferulae has the lowest. Also, in 20 mg/ml concentration, M. esculenta, M. vulgaris and A. campestris showed the highest trolox equivalence antioxidant capacity (TEAC). These species were observed to have ABTS•+ radical cation suppressor activity as effective as applied standards in 20 mg/ml concentration. On the other hand, P. eryngii var. ferulae shows the lowest antioxidant activity. It was found out that the methanolic extract from A. campestris has more ferri ion reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) in its 20 mg/ml concentration than used standards. P. eryngii var. ferulae and L. gigantea demonstrates the lowest reducing power. Moreover, among all studied species, A. campestris was discovered to be the most effective inhibitors of lipid peroxidation. It was detected that there is a close relationship between the amount of antioxidant activity and flavonoids and phenolic compounds of the examined species. In this regard, A. campestris having the highest amount of phenolic compounds shows the highest activity in the results of all tests to determine the antioxidant activity. It was also found that M. vulgaris having the second highest antioxidant activity after A. campestris is the species which includes the highest amount of flavonoid. Besides, it was observed that the difference between the places where the fungi species grow may affect the antioxidant activity. This situation suggests that there can be a correlation between the amount of antioxidant components the species have in their structure and their geographic habitat. By using Microdilution Method on methanolic extracts from all the species studied, their antibacterial activity against Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 4352, Proteus mirabilis ATCC 14153, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228 and their antifungal activity against Candida albicans ATCC 10231 were investigated. Besides, their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) where there is no visible reproduction was found out. It was also detected that the fungi extracts used in the study have different or similar effects on the development of tested microorganisms. All fungi extracts show the best antimicrobial effects against S. aureus and S. epidermidis, which are Gram(+), whereas their effect is weak against Gram(-) microorganisms. The methanolic extract from A. campestris show the highest antibacterial activity against S. aureus. Antifungal activity against C. albicans was not observed in any of the fungi extracts examined. In this part of the study, it was discovered that the antimicrobial activity varies according to the species of used testing microorganisms and fungi. Besides, it was detected that fungi samples collected from different areas may show antimicrobial activity against the same microorganisms at different levels and hence it was concluded that the habitat can affect the level of antimicrobial activity. Lastly, determination of Mitochondrial Succinate Dehydrogenase (MTT assay) was applied to determine the cytotoxic effects of methanolic extracts at varying concentrations obtained from the fungi species on selected cancer cell line (HeLa). Cytotoxic effect was observed on the HeLa cell line in the methanolic extract from P. eryngii var. eryngii and A. vaginata. On the other hand, no cytotoxic effect on HeLa cell line was observed in any 5 different concentrations of methanolic extracts from A. campestris, M. vulgaris, L. gigantea, M. esculenta and P. eryngii var. ferulae.