Nutritional and Molecular Analysis of Wild Edible Gelam Mushroom (Boletus sp.) from Kelantan, Malaysia

Aims: To conduct nutritional and molecular analysis of Gelam mushroom which is believed to have contained medicinal properties.

Place and Duration of Study: School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, between 2012 and 2014.

Methodology: The fruiting body of Gelam mushroom was collected from Bachok, Kelantan. Proximate composition and mineral content of the fruiting body of this mushroom was analyzed according to the guidelines of Association of Official Analytical Chemists and Alam et al. respectively. Fungal specific primers pairs ITS1-F and ITS4 were used in molecular analysis.

Results: Every 100 g of fruiting body containing 0.13 g fat, 4.53 g protein, 3.13 g fiber, 0.87 g ash, 5.1 g carbohydrate, 4.4 mg Ca, 297.13 mg K, 7.27 mg Mg and 24.4 mg Na. Molecular analysis using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) on Gelam mushrooms collected from the state of Kelantan, Malaysia were identified to be from Boletus genus.

Conclusion: Present study demonstrated that Gelam mushroom could be a new Boletus species and is a potential source of food rich in minerals.