Chemical characterization and in vivo bioavailability of enriched-lithium mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus)

The enrichment of edible mushrooms with lithium (Li) may be a strategy to provide more soluble and bioavailable lithium forms for humans. This work aimed to evaluate the in vivo bioavailability of lithium-enriched Pleurotus ostreatus in rats. For mushroom growth, we used coffee husks. Twenty-five milliliters of lithium chloride (0.5 g/kg) was added to obtain mushrooms enriched with lithium (PloEli). For the animal experiment, 30 rats were divided into five groups (n=6/group). Rats were fed with mushrooms PloELi during 42 days. The animal diets were based on the AIN-93G diet and enriched with PloELi to provide 100 %, 300 %, 600 % or 1 000 % of the animals' requirements. In the standard diet, 100% of the Li recommendation was provided with LiCl. The lithemia was considered a parameter to evaluate whether this LiCl was available in the animal body after exposure to lithium. Weight gain (WG) and weekly feed intake (FI) were evaluated to obtain the feed efficiency ratio (FER). As the concentration of lithium offered in the diets increased, higher serum lithium concentrations were observed (p<0.05), and there were no differences for AST and ALT, enzymes related to hepatotoxicity (p>0.05). In addition, there were no differences (p>0.05) for WG, FI, and FER at all lithium concentrations offered using PloELi mushrooms compared to the LiCl control. Therefore, lithium-enriched P. ostreatus mushrooms are a potential source of lithium for human consumption and can be used in the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases.