Nutritional value of edible wild mushrooms collected from the Khasi hills of Meghalaya

Seven wild edible mushrooms commonly consumed in the Khasi hills of Meghalaya were analyzed for their contents of dry matter, crude protein, fat, fibre and ash along with minerals (Ca, P, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Na, K, Mg and Se), ascorbic acid and the profile of essential amino acids. The macronutrient profile in general revealed that the wild mushrooms were rich sources of protein and had low amounts of fat. In general, most of the mushrooms studied had good amounts of minerals, including trace minerals. On average, phenylalanine was the limiting amino acid (0.9 mug%) while the highest amount of EAA present in the mushrooms studied was leucine (704 mug%). One serving of the studied mushrooms (250 g fresh weight) contained an average of 6.12 g of protein, 287 mg of calcium, 9.3 mg of iron and 3.72 mg of zinc. More importantly it had low levels of fat (0.712 g) and sodium (0.077 mg). (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.