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In the context of the valorisation of edible mushrooms from the province of Taza, Morocco, the present study, carried out for the first time, aims to evaluate the mineral composition, phenolic content, antibacterial activity and self‐preservation potential of wild Morchella esculenta (L.) Pers. from Taza. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP‐AES) determined the mineral salt content. We performed aqueous extractions using decoction, infusion and maceration, as well as hot and cold organic extractions with ethanol, acetone and diethyl ether. We then carried out a qualitative and quantitative analyses of the chemical composition. The antibacterial activity of the aqueous and organic extracts was studied using the disc diffusion method and by determining minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and bactericidal concentrations (MBCs). Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to analyse the correlation between the chemical composition and antibacterial activity. Mineral analysis showed that the mushroom is rich in minerals, especially K (3578.4), Fe (2969.16), P (1818.66) and Mg (183.657) mg/kg dry matter. Quantitative analysis showed that the diethyl ether extract had the highest flavonoid content (846.07 ± 1.87 mgEQ/gE), the aqueous macerated extract was the richest in polyphenols (20.51 ± 0.45 mg EAG/gE) and the acetone extract had the highest catechic tannin content (17.13 ± 1.10 mgEC/gE). A study on antibacterial activity demonstrated that the decocted was bactericidal against Proteus mirabilis, while the aqueous macerated extract was bactericidal against Bacillus subtilis. The macerated diethyl ether extract was bacteriostatic against Proteus mirabilis, whereas the ethanolic extract was bactericidal against Staphylococcus aureus. This study showed that this mushroom is abundant in minerals and phenolic compounds, demonstrating its nutritional and therapeutic interest. In addition, this mushroom has antibacterial potential, which provides it the ability to protect itself against infection by pathogenic bacteria during storage and commercialization. PCA correlated the richest extracts in phenolic compounds and antibacterial activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morchella esculenta (L.) Pers. is an edible mushroom highly valued by consumers worldwide for its nutritional and therapeutic qualities. In the absence of studies on this mushroom in Morocco, this study aims to evaluate its ethnomedicinal use and its socio-economic impact on the local population. Therefore, an ethnomedicinal and socio-economic survey was conducted among 163 people in 6 stations in the province of Taza in Morocco in March, April and May 2019. The survey data were processed using Excel 2010. The study showed that Morchella esculenta (L.) Pers. is poorly known among the local population, with only 1.22% of the population considering that this mushroom has a therapeutic effect for diabetics and people suffering from cardiovascular problems, and 4.3% of the population includes it in their culinary habits as a spice or grilled. On the other hand, this study revealed that the mushroom provides a significant seasonal income, reaching MAD 3,000/€ 274.58 per collector, at MAD 60/€ 5.48 per kg. This study showed that Morchella esculenta (L.) Pers. is not well known and is not exploited ethnomedicinally, even though it represents an important economic resource for the local population. Therefore, there is a need for further research on Morchella esculenta (L.) Pers. from Taza in Morocco to reveal the benefits of this famous mushroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, six molecules M1-M6, with the donor—π-spacer—acceptor structure, based on triphenylamine have been purposely studied to be applied in π-type dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We explore the effect of different electron-withdrawing substituents on the optoelectronic, structural, and photovoltaic dye properties. The key parameters of all the dyes affecting the power conversion efficiency (PCE) were theoretically investigated in detail using density functional theory (DFT) and TD-BHandHLYP calculations to reveal structure–property relationships. The calculated results show that the strong electron-withdrawing groups of thienothiadiazole and furano-thiadiazole, reduce energy gaps and provide a red shift of absorption spectra. The dye M1 and M3 have presented interesting optoelectronic properties with interesting charge transfer properties. Meanwhile, the enhanced free energy of charge injection (∆Ginject) and light-harvesting efficiency of the M5 dye revealed that this dye can be used as a potential sensitizer for TiO2-based DSSCs. The DFT method is also used to evaluate the bond interactions between the dye and iodine. The results suggest that dyes containing thienothiadiazole and furano-thiadiazole as π-spacers show more stable interactions with iodine species, thereby increasing the concentration of the redox couple at the surface of the semiconductor. In addition, the process of charge transfer and dye adsorption on (TiO2)9 cluster was investigated. Calculations show that the M3 dye has lower adsorption energy than the corresponding M1 dye. These results suggest that the adsorption of M3 on the TiO2 semiconductor would be more stable. The results indicate that the selected dyes provide promising results and motivate future investigations on these new systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]