[Evaluation of the toxicity of Basidiomycota fungi on the hatching of Artemia franciscana cysts]

Abstract

Background: The consumption of wild mushrooms has increased in recent years. However, not all mushrooms are edible and some of them may cause poisoning. Therefore, their toxicity needs to be studied. Artemia franciscana is a crustacean used in toxicity tests including toxins of fungi.

Aims: To determine the percentage of inhibition and mortality produced by extracts of several basidiomycetes on the hatching of A. franciscana cysts.

Methods: Aqueous extracts were prepared from 15 species of mushrooms collected from Jalisco state, Mexico. Different concentrations of the extracts were assayed in order to test their toxicity. Potassium dichromate and artificial seawater were the positive and negative controls, respectively. The percentages of hatching and mortality of the cysts were evaluated.

Results: Inhibition of hatching greater than 80% in all the concentrations tested was found in 13 of the 15 species studied, in contrast to the positive control, which inhibited cyst hatching less than 50% in all cases. The highest percentage of mortality in the cysts was caused by the aqueous extracts of Amanita virosa, Leucopaxillus amarus, and Tylopilus violatinctus, and the lowest by Macrolepiota mastoidea.

Conclusions: The brine shrimp bioassay appeared to be useful in the evaluation of the toxicity of several basidiomycetes, with the exception of Scleroderma texense, a mushroom considered poisonous, which showed no toxicity over A. franciscana.

Keywords: Artemia franciscana; Basidiomycota; CL50; Eclosión; Hatching; LD50; Toxicidad; Toxicity.