Stable Isotope Determination in Edible Mushrooms from the Spontaneous Flora of Transylvania

ABSTRACT

Edible mushrooms represent a food product highly appreciated in the culinary arts. In this study, 12 species of edible mushrooms from the spontaneous flora of Transylvania, totaling 89 samples, were investigated for stable (²H/¹H, ¹⁸O/¹⁶O, and ¹³C/¹²C) to isotopic fingerprinting these plants. The sampling period was 2015 to 2016. The isotopic values of samples ranged between −68.3 and −7.6‰ for deuterium, and between −9.1 and 1.7‰ for oxygen-18, respectively, reflecting the geographical origins of studied mushrooms. The obtained results (²H/¹H, ¹⁸O/¹⁶O) were in good correlation with the meteoric water line for the Transylvania region. In addition, using the isotopic fingerprint of mushrooms from the Transylvania spontaneous flora, the growing locations of samples could be distinguished: a hilly area with an altitude up to 500 m and a mountainous area with an altitude between 500 and 1000 m.

KEYWORDS:

• Edible mushrooms
• stable isotopes
• Transylvania

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by ANCSI through the Core Program, Project PN16-30 01 01.