Olive mill solid waste induces beneficial mushroom-specialized metabolite diversity revealed by computational metabolomics strategies

Author: mycolabadmin
4/26/2025
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Summary

Researchers studied how adding olive mill waste to mushroom growing substrate affects the beneficial compounds in two edible mushrooms. They used advanced computer analysis of chemical data to find that this waste product increases healthy compounds like hericenones while reducing potentially harmful mycotoxins. This discovery could help make mushroom farming more sustainable and produce safer, healthier mushrooms for consumers.

Background

Mushrooms contain diverse specialized metabolites with bioactive properties and have been used for centuries for dietary and medical purposes. The cultivation of edible and medicinal mushrooms such as Hericium erinaceus and Pleurotus eryngii typically uses substrates of dry wood chips, straw, and cereals. To enhance sustainability, olive mill solid waste (OMSW) has been added to mushroom substrates, but its impact on mushroom metabolic content has not been comprehensively assessed.

Objective

To examine the effect of different proportions of olive mill solid waste (0%, 33%, 60%, and 80%) added to mushroom substrate on the metabolic profiles of fruiting bodies and mycelium of H. erinaceus and P. eryngii using computational metabolomics strategies including GNPS molecular networking, MS2Query, and FERMO dashboard.

Results

H. erinaceus fruiting bodies and mycelium were more enriched with specialized metabolites than P. eryngii. OMSW increased hericenone analogues in H. erinaceus fruiting bodies and erinacerin metabolites in mycelium. Notably, high OMSW concentrations decreased enniatin metabolite abundance, potentially reducing mycotoxin exposure. Computational metabolomics identified 56 features upregulated with 80% OMSW, with 35 metabolites unique to OMSW-supplemented groups.

Conclusion

Substrate composition significantly affects mushroom specialized metabolomes, with OMSW inducing beneficial metabolites while reducing harmful ones. Computational metabolomics strategies complemented by NMR validation provide effective approaches to assess sustainable growth options for edible mushrooms. These findings support the development of safer, nutritionally enhanced functional foods through optimized substrate design.

Published in:Metabolomics,
Study Type:Experimental Study,
Source: 10.1007/s11306-025-02257-9, PMID: 40281221