Ergosterol and Amino Acids Contents of Culinary-Medicinal Shiitake from Various Culture Conditions

Lentinus edodes (shiitake) is an edible mushroom cultivated and marketed due to its nutritional and medicinal values. L. edodes is appreciated for its unique fragrant taste and its high dietetic potential. Its bioactive molecules explain its interest as medicinal mushroom. This mushroom can be grown using various substrates and culture conditions. Thus, our work focused on the comparison of chemical constituents (i.e., amino acids and ergosterol) of L. edodes fruit bodies cultivated in organic or nonorganic growing conditions in the French region of Occitanie. Sequential extraction was performed on freeze-dried fungal materials. Quantitative evaluation of amino acids was done using high performance thin layer chromatography. Assay of ergosterol was carried out using high performance liquid chromatography. For both ergosterol and amino acids, differences were highlighted between extracts (depending on the nature of the solvents) and between growing conditions (organic versus nonorganic). Extracts from organically produced shiitake contained the highest content of ergosterol, isoleucine and alanine. In conclusion, this work demonstrated that culture conditions influence the chemical profile of L. edodes as far as ergosterol and amino acids are concerned, which could improve nutrition and human health.