Evaluation of Some Mushrooms from Kashmir Valley for their Potential Anti-Cancer Activity Mir Rashid Ahmad* 1 , Imtiyaz Murtaza 2 , Gulzar Bhat 3 , Mohammad Ayub shah 4 , Mir Javid Iqbal 5 , Gazanfar Ahmad 5 1 Dept. of Biotechnology, Faculty of applied sciences, Mewar University, Chittorgarh -Rajastan, India. 2 Dept. of Biochemistry, SKUAST-K, Srinagar-190006, J&K, India. 3 Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Kashmir, Srinagar- 190006, J&K, India. 4 Dept. of Botany GDC Sopore Srinagar Kashmir-193201 J&K, India. 5 Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar-190006, J&K, India 57 | Page Original Article www.iabcr.org International Archives of BioMedical and Clinical Research | Oct-Dec 2016 | Vol 2 | Issue 4 ABSTRACT Background: In the recent past, there has been a shift towards alternate and traditional therapies for the prevention and cure for various diseases including cancer, hypertension, diabetes etc. Due to the risk of side effects associated with allopathic medicines, people are fast turning towards traditional and folk medicines because of their supposedly low risk of side effects. Mushrooms have a very long and well-established role in traditional system of medicine in many Asian countries especially in China, Korea, and Japan etc. Methods: Fresh mushrooms were collected and identified based on morphological and reproductive characters by comparing with standard field guides by Largent (1973).Three different mushroom species were selected for the study. The material collected from target sites were subjected to solvent extraction followed by preparation of stock extracts, which were further used for the evaluation of anti-cancer activity. In-vitro cytotoxicity against different human cell lines was determined and the samples showing 50% or more growth inhibition at 100 µg/ml were considered as potential. Results: Ethanolic extract of mushroom 1 (100µg/ml) exhibited highest % age growth inhibition of 61, 53, 25% on lung, colon and CNS cell lines respectively. In case of mushroom-2 Ethanol: water (1:1) extracts 1 (100 µg/ml) showed highest %age growth inhibition of 19, 38, 7% against liver, Neuroblastoma, Colon cell lines respectively. Likewise, Ethanolic Extract of mushroom-3(100 µg/ml) exhibited highest %age growth inhibition of 58, 65, 13% on lung, neuroblastoma and prostate cell lines respectively. Conclusions: Based on preliminary evaluation two of the mushroom varieties showed promising results in terms of their anticancer activity however they need further evaluation and determination to ascertain their potential anticancer activity. Key words: Evaluation, mushrooms, anti- cancer, extract, screening INTRODUCTION Mushrooms represent a large and untapped source of powerful new pharmaceutical products and present an unlimited source of compounds with potential antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral, hepato-protective and immune stimulating properties. [1] A number of some important polysaccharides, proteins, terpenes, flavones etc. have been identified from different mushrooms species with potential antitumor/cytotoxic activities, particularly against the human colon cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer. [2] Due to varying agro-climatic conditions, Jammu and Kashmir is rich in macro fungal diversity and offers a rich source of various mushroom varieties. Both edible and non-edible mushrooms have been found in abundance and their use has been restricted for dietary purposes only. There is a paucity of published literature and only few studies have been carried to evaluate mushrooms particularly growing in Kashmir valley for their potential medicinal use. [3] Keeping in view the pharmacological potential of mushrooms as reported in the published literature from Access this article online Website: www.iabcr.org Quick Response code DOI: 10.21276/iabcr.2016.2.4.13 Received:25.11.16| Revised:03.12.16| Accepted:07.12.16 Corresponding Author Mir Rashid Ahmad, Dept. Biotechnology, Faculty of applied sciences, Mewar University, Chittorgarh - Rajastan, India Copyright: © the author(s) and publisher. IABCR is an official publication of Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine & Sciences, registered in 2001 under Indian Trusts Act, 1882. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.