Heat stability of agaritine in water extracts from Agaricus blazei and other edible fungi, and removal of agaritine by ethanol fractionation

An analytical system to quantify agaritine present in Agaricus blazei, Agaricus bisporus, and other food mushrooms was established using high pressure liquid chromatography combined with mass-spectroscopy (HPLC–MS). Water extracts from dried, homogenised mushrooms were kept at differing temperatures for defined periods to investigate the heat-stability of agaritine. Homogenates were then freeze-dried, and agaritine was extracted using methanol. After evaporation of methanol, agaritine levels were analysed by HPLC–MS. A. bisporus contained 341 ± 32 μg/g agaritine, and A. blazei contained 22–57 μg/g agaritine. While pure agaritine in H2O solution was heat-unstable and decomposed exponentially at 120 °C, agaritine in Agaricus water extracts was partially heat stable, and 20–50% of agaritine remained after 120 min at 120 °C. Thus agaritine, a known carcinogen, is likely to be present in Agaricus extracts sold as nutritional supplements. Therefore, a method was developed that can be used to remove agaritine from water extracts in order to prevent health risk. Agaritine was successfully removed from Agaricus water extracts by ethanol fractionation.