Dehydrated mycelia (Cordyceps militaris, Grifola frondosa, Hericium erinaceus and Laricifomes officinalis) as Novel Foods: A comprehensive NMR study

Several medicinal mushrooms have been approved as European Novel Foods or have the potential to become Novel Foods. However, their chemical characterization is limited, being mainly focused on specific compounds. Here, the dehydrated mycelia (isolated from sporophores collected in Italy) of Grifola frondosa, Hericium erinaceus, recently defined as Novel Foods, and Cordyceps militaris and Laricifomes officinalis, with potential Novel Food use, were analyzed by NMR methodology to define their metabolite and nutritional profile. Amino acids and derivatives, sugars and polyols, organic acids, fatty acids, lipid polar moieties, nitrogen-containing compounds were identified and quantified in hydroalcoholic and organic extracts. C. militaris showed a high amount of glutamate, citrate and mannitol, also involved in mushroom taste, being the only species presenting tri-unsaturated fatty acids. L. officinalis was characterized by the highest amount of TAA and EAA, and the lowest sugars and polyols content. G. frondosa and H. erinaceus were characterized by high amounts of trehalose (13–14 % of dried weight). Each dehydrated mycelia potentially represents an innovative food matrix alone, for culinary, nutritional and nutraceutical needs, or mixed together to obtain new products. Moreover, these mycelia can be of interest as sources of isolated bioactive compounds for supplements with particular nutritional functions.