Characterisation and phytochemical profile of sunlight exposed freeze-dried oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) powder

Mushrooms are vitamin B and D rich fungi which belong to the division Basidiomycota. Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) has distinct flavour, contains high nutrients and phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are naturally existing compounds which play with nutrients to protect against diseases. The aim of the study is to characterise and compare the phytochemical profile of sunlight exposed freeze-dried oyster mushroom (SEFDOM) powder and non-sunlight exposed freeze-dried oyster mushroom (NSEFDOM) powder. The phytochemical constituents of both SEFDOM and NSEFDOM powder were extracted using aqueous, methanol and ethanol. Eighteen metabolites were screened for all the three solvents for both the samples. The phytochemical screening showed that the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, sterols, proteins, carbohydrates, saponins for both samples were detected while other remaining metabolites were not detected. The results showed that the metabolites such as alkaloids, sterols, anthraquinones and carbohydrates were appreciable in the NSEFDOM powder group when compared to SEFDOM powder samples. Protein content was found to be high in SEFDOM powder group with ethanol extraction. The overall phytochemical extraction efficiency is high in methanol solvent. This study found that the amount of phytochemical content in non-sunlight exposed freeze-dried oyster mushroom powder was higher than sunlight exposed oyster mushroom powder.