Enzymatic Profiling of Wild Edible Mushrooms Consumed by the Ethnic Tribes of India

Wild edible macrofungi are known to produce a wide range of biologically active metabolites and enzymes. In the present study, macrofungi consumed by the mycophillic ethnic tribes of India were collected from the local markets and forest habitats and identified based on their morphology. They belonged to ten different species under nine genera and eight families. Amylase, cellulase, protease, tyrosinase and laccase enzymes of the macrofungi were investigated. Two strains of Lactarius showed higher activity of the enzyme laccase and were subjected to further purification and analysis. The partially purified laccases from these two strains showed efficient dye decolourization ability when tested against four different synthetic dyes. The present investigation suggests the potential of these wild edible macrofungi in the production of biotechnologically important enzymes for use in an array of applications from pharmaceuticals to treatment of chemical and biological effluents.