Comparison of mineral and hazardous heavy metal contents in Lentinula edodes produced from Korea and China

Abstract

Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom, is mainly produced in Korea, China, and Southeast Asia. Thus, very few studies have reported the identification of the country origin of L. edodes samples. Herein, the macro mineral, trace mineral, and hazardous heavy metal contents of domestic and Chinese L. edodes samples were analyzed and their production countries were compared. The mineral contents of 13 domestic and 17 Chinese L. edodes samples were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The Na, Mg, K, and Ca contents in domestic L. edodes were determined to be 161.33, 746.22, 17,676.84, and 50.50 mg/kg, respectively, whereas those in Chinese L. edodes were 310.69, 318.49, 11,182.01, and 33.36 mg/kg, respectively. The Cr and Cu contents in domestic and Chinese L. edodes were 2.82 and 77.13 mg/kg (Cr) and 12.955 and 101.19 mg/kg (Cu), respectively. The hazardous heavy metal contents in domestic and Chinese L. edodes were determined to be within the levels recommended by the Korean Food Code. Taken together, our results reveal significant differences between Na, Mg, and K contents (p<0.001) and Cr content (p<0.01) in domestic and Chinese L. edodes samples. Thus, Na, Mg, K, and Cr contents may serve as basic data to determine the origin of domestic and Chinese L. edodes samples; further studies on the Na, Mg, K, and Cr contents in domestic and Chinese L. edodes samples are needed for identifying the country origin of this mushroom.