Antioxidant properties and electrochemical behavior of cultivated commercial Indian edible mushrooms.

Methanolic extracts of cap and stipe of commercially obtained mushrooms Agaricus bisporus, Hypsizygus ulmarius, and Calocybe indica were analyzed for their antioxidant activity in different chemical systems including reducing power, free radical scavenging, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), superoxide scavenging, peroxide scavenging, metal chelating activities and electrochemical behavior. Scavenging effects on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radicals were moderate (43.5-59.0%) at 1.5 mg/ml. Chelating effects on ferrous ions were moderate to excellent (40.6-96.1%) at 20 mg/ml. At 12 mg/ml, the reducing powers were excellent (2.54-1.71). FRAP results were in the range 2.15-0.98 at 16 mg/ml. The ability to scavenge H2O2 was moderate to excellent (48.9-97.7%) at 1.5 mg/ml. At 10 mg/ml, Agaricus bisporus cap proved to be better at scavenging superoxide radicals than others. Similar electrochemical responses of all extracts suggested similar electroactive chemical composition. The total phenols in the extracts ranged from 14.73-26.72 mg/g.The total flavonoid content ranged from 1.12-2.17 μg/g.