Molecular circumscription, myco-chemical evaluation, antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of some selected mushrooms from Kashmir Himalaya

Mushrooms are cosmopolitan heterotrophic organisms that have been used by man for centuries to alleviate and treat diseases. Mushrooms still represent a large untapped source of structurally novel compounds that might serve as lead for the development of novel drugs. The objective of the current study was to look for the key and novel bioactive substances present in methanolic extracts of selected polypore species growing in Kashmir Himalaya including Ganoderma applanatum, Ganoderma lucidum, Fomitopsis rosea, and Fomitopsis pinicola besides the evaluation of their antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxicity effects. The molecular identification involved partial DNA sequence analyses of ITS region of selected samples which revealed their identity to G. applanatum, G. lucidum, F. pinicola and F. rosea respectively. knowing the presence of secondary metabolites from these medicinal mushrooms using GCMS analysis shows these mushrooms contain a total of 52 metabolites having different biological activities such as as alkaloides, fatty acids, esters, terpens, alcohols, ketones, Pyrans, ketones, vitamins and other organic compounds mycochemicals. Moreover, it was found that the samples from different sites are clearly separated for the studied metabolites demonstrating that metabolite profile is sample-specific in polyporales. While F. rosea methanolic extract was found to have the highest antioxidant potential and cytotoxicity effect against A549 cell line, the G. lucidum extracts have highest cytotoxicity effect against S180 cell line. Further, G. applanatum and F. rosea were found to possess the highest content of total phenolics and total flavonoids respectively. The methanolic extract of G. applanatum showed strong antibacterial and antifungal property followed by G. lucidum. This study may serve as a prelude for more in depth study into polypore mushrooms from Kashmir Himalaya and to document and explore the mushroom diversity as well as knowing the compound profiling of the mushrooms of the region.