A natural food ingredient based on ergosterol: Optimization of the extraction from: Agaricus blazei, evaluation of bioactive properties and incorporation in yogurts

In recent years, mycosterols have emerged as potential functional ingredients for the development of sterol-enriched food products and dietary supplements. Agaricus blazei is a mushroom rich in bioactive compounds. For commercial purposes, their fruiting bodies must obey rigid morphological criteria. Those not conforming to these criteria are usually discarded, although this does not mean impairment of their content in bioactives. The aim of the present work was to propose the use of commercially discarded A. blazei fruiting bodies for obtaining an extract rich in ergosterol as a fortifier ingredient for yogurts. For extraction, the Soxhlet technology was used and the highest ergosterol yield (around 12%) was achieved in the 5th cycle, yielding 58.53 ± 1.72 μg of ergosterol per 100 g of mushroom (dry weight). The ergosterol rich extract presented notable antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, besides showing no hepatotoxicity. When added to the yogurts it significantly enhanced their antioxidant properties. Furthermore, it did not significantly alter the nutritional or the individual fatty acid profiles of the final dairy products. Thus, A. blazei fruiting bodies that do not conform to the commercial requirements of the market and are normally discarded could be exploited for obtaining a natural high added-value food additive, following the circular bioeconomy concept.R. C. G. Correa thanks the CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education, Brazil (CAPES fellow, process number 88881.120010/2016-01), for the financial support provided for her postdoctoral research in the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança. The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and the FEDER under Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/ 00690/2013), L. Barros contract and A. Fernandes grant (SFRH/ BPD/114753/2016). This work was also funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds (FEEI) through the Regional Operational Program North 2020, within the scope of Project Mobilizador ValorNatural®. Rosane Marina Peralta and Adelar Bracht are recipients of scientific productivity research grants from CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil), grants numbers 307944/2015- 8 and 304090/2016-6, respectively. M. Sokovic is grateful for financial support to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Republic of Serbia, Grant No. 173032.