Tropical Cultivated <italic>Hericium erinaceus</italic>: Antioxidant Capacities of Heat Treatment on Fresh and Oven-Dried Fruiting Bodies.

Consumption of mushrooms in daily diet has become tremendously popular. This study was carried out to investigate the antioxidant capacities (DPPH radical scavenging, reducing power, inhibition of lipid peroxidation, and trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity) and total phenolic content on the heat treatments (boiling, steaming, microwave and pressure cooking) of fresh and oven-dried fruit body of <italic>Hericium erinaceus</italic> cultivated in tropical region. Samples exposed to 5 minutes to both steaming and pressure-cooking exhibited a significant increase in DPPH and reducing powers activities. The TEAC was also increased significantly in 5 minutes of both microwaving and pressure-cooking samples. Most of the cooked samples showed a high phenolic content. Weak correlation between the antioxidant activities and total phenolic content of samples indicates the antioxidant activity is not due to the amount of phenolic compounds. Thus, steaming and pressure-cooking might be the best cooking method to maintain high antioxidant content of <italic>H. erinaceus</italic>. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]