Chemical composition of wild mushrooms collected from Alexandria, Egypt

Fourteen samples of wild mushrooms, collected during the wintertime, were identified as Agaricus campestris, Agaricus rodmani and Collybia sp. Moisture, crude protein, non-protein nitrogen, ether extract, total carbohydrates, crude fibre, vitamin C, ash and minerals (calcium, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, iron, copper and manganese) were determined. In addition, reducing sugars, non-reducing sugars, starch, glycogen and mannitol were determined. Variations in chemical constituents were found to be due to stage of development and type of mushroom. The different types of wild mushroom had similar distributions of amino acids. They contained all the essential amino acids in varying amounts.