Ethiopian mushrooms hold antioxidant potential, with wild mushrooms proving stronger than cultivated, according to the first research looking at country’s edible offerings. The researchers from Addis Ababa University and Pennsylvanian State University collected the samples from the Addis Ababa, Kaffa zone and Benishangul Gumuz region of Ethiopia. They were obtained personally by the researchers or from local people or markets. Mycological experts were recruited in order to help identify the wild mushrooms. The samples were then dried in a drying oven until they had a consistent weight, then milled to fine powder. The researchers employed a methanolic solution to test the radical scavenging of each powdered mushroom. The solution starts as a deep purple colour and fades when an antioxidant is present. A similar method was used to track the presence of reductants (antioxidants), with a ferricyanide solution (Fe2+) turning from a yellow colour to shades of green and blue depending on the reducing power of each compound. … Continue reading