DETERMINATION OF TRACE ELEMENTS IN ANTI-INFLUENZA VIRUS MUSHROOMS

Mushrooms are relatively rich in mineral constituents, and some wild growing species are specifically abundant in certain trace elements sequestered in flesh, e.g. Se. Nevertheless, several articles, including those recently published, contain dubious data on Se and other minerals composition of mushrooms with concentrations too high to be credible. Selenium is a spectacular example of element, for which erroneous analytical results were published and repeated. Other examples of unreliable data published relate to Hg, Fe, and rare earth elements in mushrooms. Data on Se and some metals in Ganoderma lucidum, Cordyceps militaris, Kuehneromyces mutabilis, Inonotus hispidus and Collybia maculate are discussed below in the light of typical Se concentrations determined using validated methods, as reported by other authors. In the light of a mounting number of suspicious data on Se and certain other trace elements in mushrooms, the need for reliable analytical approaches is highlighted. The choice of inappropriate analytical techniques for Se measurements, such as flame-AAS, lead to imprecise results.