Chemical structure characterization of edible mushroom-extracted beta-glucan and its bioactivity

Beta-glucan has been known for its bioactivity such as for anticancer, antioxidant and antimicrobial agent. Naturally, beta-glucan is chemical structurally diverse in various beta-glucan sources such as edible mushroom. The chemical structure diversity of edible mushroom-origin beta-glucan has not yet been studied for its correlation with their bioactivity. Hence, this study observed the chemical structure and the bioactivity of beta-glucan extracted from five different edible mushrooms, which are Pleurotus ostreatus, Ganoderma lucidum, Volvariella volvacea, Agaricus bisporus, and Auricularia auricula. A. auricula contained the highest beta-glucan among the other edible mushroom (26.47 ± 3.45 g/100g). While V. volvacea beta-glucan extract possessed the highest cytotoxicity against breast cancer cells which enabled to inhibit 126.42% of cancer cells growth. It is shown that each edible mushroom has a different content of beta-glucan and bioactivity.