Date of Award

12-1-2021

Thesis Type

masters

Document Type

Thesis (Restricted Access)

Divisions

science

Department

Faculty of Science

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

Mushrooms have gained worldwide popularity for both their nutritional and medicinal properties. Despite thousands of edible mushrooms worldwide, only a handful of mushrooms are available on a commercial scale or have been extensively studied for their therapeutic properties. A lot of research on health properties of mushrooms focus on chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. In particular, a lot of research is currently focusing on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. The current research focuses on Calocybe indica Purkayastha & Chandra (milky white mushroom), a relatively unknown mushroom. Fresh fruiting bodies of mushrooms were sliced then either freeze-dried or oven-dried before extracted using aqueous and ethanolic (99.8%) solvents. Cultures of mouse Neuro-2a-blastoma (N2a) cells were seeded into a 96-well plate and assessed by using a colorimetric 3-[4,5-dimethythiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay with varying concentrations of the mushroom extracts (0-500 μg/mL) in order to determine potential neuroprotective properties of the mushroom. A negative control of N2a cells was used to determine cell viability and a positive control of H2O2 was used to determine cell toxicity. Oven-dried aqueous extract of Calocybe indica showed the highest cell viability (121%), followed by oven-dried ethanol extract (113%), freeze-dried aqueous extract (112%), and freeze-dried ethanol extract (105%). Neuroprotection against H2O2 followed a similar trend. Lower concentrations of Calocbye indica correlated with higher cell viability and neuroprotection. The total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of the mushroom were evaluated using a Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and 2,2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) dye.Oven-dried ethanol extracts showed the highest neuroprotective effects, the second highest total phenolic content (5.04 mg GAE/50 g dried mushroom weight), and the third highest antioxidant activity (12.89 mg/mL). Freeze-dried ethanol extracts showed the highest total phenolic content (7.2 mg GAE/50 g dried mushroom weight) and the highest antioxidant activity (EC50=8.63 mg/mL) despite having the lowest neuroprotective effects. A moderate positive correlation (R2 = 0.61) was found between total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. While phenolic content plays a considerable role in antioxidant activity, there is reasonable evidence that non-phenolic compounds contribute greatly to antioxidant activity and neuroprotection.

Note

Dissertation (M.A.) – Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, 2021.

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