Preliminary trial of the cultivation of Pleurotus djamor var. fuscopruinosus from southern Thailand using sawdust substrate and applications

Pleurotus is an edible mushroom, that has been consumed and cultivated worldwide. Pleurotus djamor var. fuscopruinosu s (MFLU24-0016) is a new record in Thailand that provided morphology descriptions with phylogeny analysis and provided valuable information for the possibility of cultivation. The mycelium of P. djamor var. fuscopruinosu s strain MFLUCC24-0056 was grown on PDA medium, and sorghum medium showed the best spawn production. Sawdust is suitable for the growing mycelium. The wild strain of P. djamor var. fuscopruinosus produced fruiting bodies at 25–28°C and 70–80% humidity. Primordia formed four weeks after the mycelia fully colonised the substrate and illuminated the conditions for the development of a mature fruiting bodies in 4–5 days. Nutritional analysis of 100 g of dried P. djamor var. fuscopruinosus showed 15.99 ± 0.2% of carbohydrates, 25.00 ± 1.5 (g/100 g) of protein, 30.25 ± 0.5% of moisture, 19.10 ± 0.9% of fibre, 7.59 ± 1.0% of ash, and 2.07 ± 0.5 (g/100 g) of fat content. Antioxidant activities of P. djamor var. fuscopruinosus 50% (v/v), ethyl acetate extract showed the strongest 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity at 694.47 ± 3.92 µg/ml compared to 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) radical cation scavenging activity at 652.92 ± 2.53 µg/ml. In vitro anticancer effects were evaluated using the (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The results showed the extract of P. djamor var. fuscopruinosus exhibited higher cytotoxicity against lung cancer A549 than colorectal cancer SW480 with IC ₅₀ values of 382.03 ± 4.55, and 245.73 ± 7.60 µg/ml, respectively, compared to the positive control doxobrucirin with IC ₅₀ values of 14.96 ± 1.58 µg/ml. The exhibition cytotoxicity against RAW 264.7 cells had IC ₅₀ values of 213.08 ± 4.08 µg/ml. Antidiabetic properties were investigated. Inhibition of the α-glucosidase enzyme in vitro showed that the hot water extract was higher at 582.91 ± 3.0 µg/ml, followed by ethyl acetate at 473.87 ± 1.4 µg/ml, and less was methanol at 357.63 ± 3.3 µg/ml based on comparison with acarbose (635.70 ± 4.9 µg/ml). Furthermore, 3T3-L1 cells were evaluated, and the glucose consumption assay of this mushroom was shown at 582.91 ± 3.0 µg/ml from hot water extract compared to metformin (IC ₅₀ at 99.58 ± 0.59 µg/ml).