Evaluation of heavy metal concentrations of edible wild-grown mushrooms from China

The heavy metal contents (Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn) of eight species of wild edible mushrooms from China were determined. The analyses were performed using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrophotometry after microwave digestion. The contents of Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn in caps of mushroom samples were 0.7–7.2, 16.2–70.4, 371–1315, 12.5–29.8, 7.1–58.5, and 77.8–187.4 mg kg−1 dry matter (dm), respectively, while considerable differences were found to be 1.8–25.9, 9.8–36.3, 288–6762, 13.3–103.9, 5.9–78.7, and 38.7–118 mg kg−1 dm for stipes. The results indicated that higher levels of Co, Fe, and Ni were found in the mushrooms samples analyzed. Zinc and manganese levels were similar to previous reports, whereas Cu was lower than literature values. Correlation analysis suggested that significant correlations were found between the minerals determined and the greatest amount of contamination is associated with Co, Mn, Ni, and Fe. The results of this study indicate that heavy metal contents in mushroom species are mainly related to the mineral resources of sampling sites.