Comparative Studies on Nutritional and Phytochemical Composition of Three Milky Mushroom Varieties

Milky mushroom (Calocybe indica P&C) is a tropical potentially new species gaining popularity and demand by the mushroom growers especially in South India.As biochemical composition of milky mushrooms are influenced by the growing environmental conditions, research pertaining to these aspects is very meagre and also to compare the nutritional and biochemical composition of three milky mushroom species so that the best species can be selected by the growers, hence the present research work has been taken up to estimate the concentration of proteins, carbohydrates and phytochemical compounds like phenols, flavonoids, alkaloids and tannins in three varieties of milky mushrooms namely Calocybe indica, Calocybe gambosa and APK-2 in Mushroom Cultivation Scheme, Department of Plant Pathology, Hyderabad. The results revealed the presence of highest protein and carbohydrates content in Calocybe indica (15.9g, 2.7g) followed by APK-2 (11.2g and 2.1g) and C. gambosa (10.0g and 1.6g) and highest fats in APK-2 (2.0g), followed by C. gambosa(1.4g) and least in C. indica (1.3g) respectively. The secondary metabolites phytochemicals like phenols and tannins were highest content in C. indica (2.3 gm, 1.9mg) followed by C. gambosa (2.2gm, 1.6 mg) and next followed by APK-2 (2.1 gm, 1.5mg). Highest flavonoid content was recorded in C. indica and APK-2 of 1.5mg and least was recorded in C. gambosa of 1.4mg. Highest content of alkaloid was recorded in C. indica of 1.8mg, followed by APK-2 (1.6mg) and C. gambosa (1.5mg).