Mulberry twig and pueraria root residue improve the biological efficiency and potential functional value of Hericium erinaceus.

• Mulberry twig (MT) and pueraria root residue (PR) can entirely replace the sawdust for the cultivation of Hericium erinaceus. • H. erinaceus accumulate 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) and flavonoids in the substrate composed of MT and PR. • Extracts of H. erinaceus grown on substrate with MT and PR substrate present higher in vitro antioxidant and hypoglycemic activities. Mulberry twig (MT) and pueraria root residue (PR) are byproducts of the sericulture and pueraria industries. In this study we assess the potential for MT and PR to be used as substrates for cultivating Hericium erinaceus. The results showed that the traditional mushroom substrate, sawdust (SD), can be completely replaced by MT and PR; the ratio of additions was 60% MT to 20% PR, and the biological efficiency was 110. 73 ± 5.10% which represents a 40.59% increase over the efficiency when SD was used. Additionally, the contents of 1-deoxynojirimycin and total flavonoid in mushrooms were highest with this MT and PR substrate. Further, in vitro antioxidant activity showed that both the water and ethanol extracts of the mushrooms harvested from this substrate exhibited a higher DPPH• and ABTS+• scavenging activity than that of SD (Ctrl group). In addition, the ethanol extract presented a higher inhibitory effect on both α-amylase and α-glucosidase, and the IC 50 were 0.67 ± 0.08 mg/mL and 0.50 ± 0.01 mg/mL, respectively. These results revealed that H. erinaceus cultivated on MT and PR instead of SD have potential applications in the production of medicine and health food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]