The nutritional composition of selected wild edible mushrooms from Sicily (southern Italy)

Abstract

The wide consumption of wild fungi by the local population is the basis for an evaluation of the as yet unknown nutritional composition of some selected species. Wild edible mushrooms (Fistulina hepatica, Infundibulicybe geotropa, Laetiporus sulphureus, Macrolepiota procera var. procera and Suillus granulatus) were collected in a number of Sicilian (southern Italian) forest ecosystems and analysed according to standard methodologies of fungal analysis, for their basic composition (ash, water, protein, fat, carbohydrate and vitamin). The results showed that the investigated mushrooms could be suggested as a source of nutritional elements for the human diet.

Keywords::

• Mediterranean area
• fungi
• nutritional composition

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Cassandra Funsten (USA) for her help with linguistic revision.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.