Amino acid composition of some Tanzanian wild mushrooms

Sixteen known amino acids, including the essential ones except isoleucine, were identified in the Tanzanian wild mushroom species Boletus pruinatus (Fr. & HÖK), Boletinus cavipes (Opat.) Kalchbr., Cantharellus cibarius (Fr.) Fr., Inonotus sp. cf. obliquus (Pers.: Fr.) Pil., Ganoderma lucidum (Curt.: Fr.) P. Karst, Agaricus sp. (L. ex Fr.), Pleurotus sajor-caju (Fr.) Sing., Lactarius sp. aff. pseudovolemus Heim., Russula hiemisilvae Buyck, and Suillus granulatus (L.) Kuntze using an HPLC-based amino acid analyzer. Whereas G. lucidum and the Inonotus sp. contained the least number of amino acids, B. pruinatus had a higher number, while B. pruinatus and B. cavipes had a higher number of essential amino acids than all other mushroom species, leucine being the most abundant in each of the mushroom species B. pruinatus and B. cavipes. These results should serve as a basis for encouraging local communities in developing countries to harness the nutritive potential of wildly occurring edible mushrooms for abating nutritional deficiencies.