Mushrooms are considered as a valuable food due to their unique taste, nutritional properties, and biological effects [1]. They are source of several classes of phytochemicals, including phenols, terpenoids, steroids, and polysaccharides that demonstrated a wide range of biological activities [2]. Obesity is a metabolic disorder, which results from excessive accumulation of body fat, associated with several comorbidities, including cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, various types of cancer, and type 2 diabetes mellitus [3]. Several natural compounds possess the ability to reduce body weight and to prevent diet-induced obesity by inhibiting enzymes that interfere with the hydrolysis and absorption of dietary carbohydrates and lipids, such as alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, and pancreatic lipase [4,5]. This study was planned to investigate the hypoglycaemic and hypolipidemic activity of Leccinum duriusculum and Lanmaoa fragrans (=Boletus fragrans) from Calabria (southern Italy), two symbiotic edible mushrooms belonging to the Boletaceae family, growing the former in poplar tree forests, the latter in a mycorrhizal association with oaks. Both mushrooms were dried and exhaustively extracted by maceration with n-hexane, dichloromethane, and methanol. Extracts were investigated for their inhibitory activity against alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, and lipase [6]. The best results against alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase were obtained with L. duriusculum methanol and dichloromethane extracts, respectively. The methanol extracts of both species exhibited the most promising results in inhibiting lipase (IC50 of 35.02 and 22.40 microg/mL, for L. duriusculum and L. fragrans, respectively, vs IC50 of 37.63 microg/mL for the positive control orlistat). These data provided evidence that both species are able to inhibit key enzymes that interfere with the hydrolysis and absorption of dietary carbohydrates and lipids, suggesting their potential use for the development of new potential agents for the management of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, further research is required to confirm these effects in vivo.
[1] Heleno, S.A.; Barros, L., Martins, A., et al. (2015). Nutritional value, bioactive compounds, antimicrobial activity and bioaccessibility studies with wild edible mushrooms. LWT-Food Sci. Technol. 63, 799-806; [2] Sokovic, M.; Ciric, M.; Glamocija, J.; et al. (2017). The bioactive properties of mushrooms, in Ferreira, I. C. F. R., Morales, P., & Barros L. (eds.) Wild plants, mushrooms and nuts: functional food properties and applications, 1st ed. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 83-122. [3] Kitahara, C.M., Flint, A.J., de Gonzalez, et al. (2014). Association between class III obesity (BMI of 40-59 kg/m2) and mortality: a pooled analysis of 20 prospective studies. PLoS Med. 11, Article e1001673. [4] Yun J.W. (2010). Possible anti-obesity therapeutics from nature-a review. Phytochemistry, 71, 1625-1641. [5] Nair, S.S.; Kavrekar, V.; Mishra, A. (2013). In vitro studies on alpha amylase and alpha glucosidase inhibitory activities of selected plant extracts. Eur. J. Exp. Biol., 3, 128-132. [6] Tundis, R., Conidi, C., Loizzo, M.R., et al. (2021).
