Scavenging activity of Schizophyllum commune extracts and its correlation to total phenolic content

Schizophyllum commune Fr., a split gill mushroom has been acknowledged for its medical importance. The fruiting bodies of S. commune were extracted with methanol, ethyl acetate, dichloromethane and water. These extracts were evaluated for their scavenging activity and total phenolic content. The scavenging activity was measured by DPPH radical scavenging system and Folin-Ciocalteau method was used to determine total phenolic content. The radical scavenging activity of S. commune extracts correlated well with the total phenolic content (R2 = 0.8264). Methanol extract of S. commune showed the most remarkable antioxidant activity with the ability to reduce the stable radical DPPH to yellow-coloured dipheny-1-picrylhydrazine providing IC50 at 0.145 ± 0.01 mg/ml and having the highest total phenolic content of 1.72 ± 0.05 mg GA/g extracts equivalent to 0.498 ± 0.07 mg GA/g fruitbodies. These findings indicated that some extracts of S. commune have antioxidative and radical scavenging properties, which are mainly due to its total phenolic content. Therefore, these extracts have the potential to be used as natural antioxidants providing health benefits.