# Bioactive Potential of the Wild Edible Fungus Rhizopogon roseolus (Corda) Th. Fr

## TL;DR

This study explores the bioactive properties of the wild edible fungus Rhizopogon roseolus from Türkiye, finding it has strong antimicrobial and antioxidant effects.

## Contribution

The study provides the first molecular identification and comprehensive bioactivity evaluation of Rhizopogon roseolus from Türkiye.

## Key findings

- Extracts of R. roseolus showed antimicrobial activity against several pathogenic bacteria.
- The methanolic extract exhibited high antioxidant activity with significant DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging capacities.
- Phenolic compounds like gallic acid and fatty acids such as oleic acid were identified as key bioactive components.

## Abstract

Backgrouınd/Objectives: Edible fungi are increasingly regarded as important natural reservoirs of secondary metabolites exhibiting a wide range of biological activities. The present study aimed to molecularly identify Rhizopogon roseolus collected from Türkiye and to systematically evaluate its bioactive properties. Methods: The antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of methanolic, ethanolic, and aqueous extracts were evaluated. The phenolic profile and the fatty acid composition of the species were characterized using HPLC-DAD and GC–MS respectively. Results: All extracts showed noticeable antimicrobial activity against several pathogenic microorganisms, including Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus cereus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In addition, the extracts displayed remarkable antioxidant potential. The methanolic extract of R. roseolus demonstrated DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities of 651.44 ± 15.02 mg TE/g and 162.71 ± 8.11 mg TE/g, respectively. Its ferric reducing antioxidant power was determined as 724.33 ± 12.23 mg AAE/g DW, while the cupric reducing antioxidant capacity reached 952.45 ± 4.35 mg TE/g DW. These strong antioxidant effects were closely associated with the high phenolic content (9.89 ± 0.08 mg GAE/g DW) of the extracts. GC–MS analysis indicated that palmitoleic, oleic, and linoleic acids were the major fatty acids, while HPLC-DAD revealed that gallic acid and pyrocatechol were major phenolic compounds present in R. roseolus, suggesting a nutritionally beneficial metabolite composition. Conclusions: Taken together, the findings demonstrate that R. roseolus represents a promising natural source of antimicrobial and antioxidant compounds with potential applications.