Food Research International 159 (2022) 111571 Available online 25 June 2022 0963-9969/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Review Mycochemical profle and health-promoting effects of morel mushroom Morchella esculenta (L.) – A review Christudas Sunil, Baojun Xu * Food Science and Technology Program, BNU-HKBU United International College, Zhuhai 519087, China A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Morchella esculenta Morels Antioxidants Mushrooms ABSTRACT Mushrooms have been well known for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine for their medicinal properties. Morchella esculenta (L.) Pers. (Morchellaceae) is a species of edible mushroom. Due to its distinctive and precise favor, it has been used as a food and food-favoring material in soups and sauces. It is one of the most medicinally important and economically benefcial wild species of mushroom. The fruiting body of M. esculenta contains a wide range of active constituents like vitamins, proteins, steroids, minerals, polysaccharides, and polynucleotides. M. esculenta and its active compounds possess signifcant cardiovascular protective, antitumor, immunomodulatory, antiparasitic, hepatoprotective, antibacterial, antiviral, and antidiabetic properties. In this article, the mycochemical profle, nutritional values, and bioactivities of M. esculenta were reviewed. 1. Introduction The ancient Egyptian and Chinese cultures used mushrooms for better health and longevity. Mushrooms have been used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for various therapeutic effects and China is the earliest country to cultivate mushrooms across the globe (Nitschke, Altenbach, Malolepszy, & Molleken, 2011). Along with the United States, Italy, Netherlands and Poland, China has shown the highest production of mushrooms (Xin et al., 2021). Over the past two decades, the knowledge about mushrooms, with respect to their bioactive composition and nutritional values, has been increasing. The presences of high dietary fber, low-fat content, proteins (Thatoi & Singdevsachan, 2014), glycoproteins (Kumar, 2015), unsaturated fatty acids (Tel-Cayan, Ozturk, Duru, & Turkoglu, 2017), polynucleotides (Liu, Sun, et al., 2016), polysaccharides (Cheung, 2013; Ruthes, Smiderle, & Iacomini, 2016), phenolic compounds (Heleno, Martins, Queiroz, & Ferreira, 2015), tocopherols (Khatua, Paul, & Acharya, 2013), ergosterols (Bar- reira, Oliveira, & Ferreira, 2014), lectins (Singh et al., 2014), vitamins (Agrahar-Murugkar & Subbulakshmi, 2005) and minerals (Wani, Bodha, & Wani, 2010) have led the mushrooms to be defned as a category of valuable food. M. esculenta contains a high level of glutamic acid fol- lowed by aspartic acid and leucine (Wu et al., 2021). Moreover, in-vitro fermented mycelia in submerged culture are also used for food-favoring purposes (Litchfteld, Vely, & Overbeck, 1963; Mau, Chang, Huang, & Chen, 2004). The bioactive compounds and distinctive polysaccharides from mushrooms help to maintain an active immune system and protect against degenerative diseases. Several studies have shown that mush- rooms and bioactive nutraceuticals isolated from them can potentially be used as antitumor, antiviral, anti-infammatory, antioxidant, anti- fungal, antidiabetic, antibacterial, cardioprotective and hep- atoprotective agents (Rathore, Prasad, & Sharma, 2017). Thus, knowledge about the health benefts imparted by mushrooms and their Abbreviations: ABTS, 2,2-azino-bis 3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid; AChE, acetylcholinesterase; ALP, alanine transaminase; AMPK, AMP-activated protein kinase; BChE, butyrylcholinesterase; CAD, coronary artery disease; CAT, catalase; CCl 4 , carbon tetrachloride; CREB, cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element-binding; DPPH, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl; DW, dry weight; FRAP, Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching; GOT, serum glutamic oxalo- acetic transaminase; GPT, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase; GSH, glutathione; GSH-Px, glutathione peroxidase; GST, glutathione S-transferase; HFD, high-fat diet; HMG-CoA, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A; IL-1β, interleukin 1β; IL-6, interleukin 6; LDLR, low density lipoprotein receptor; LXRα, liver X receptor alpha; MC1R, melanocortin 1 receptor; MDA, malondialdehyde; MEEP, Morchella esculenta extracellular polysaccharides; MEP-I, Morchella esculenta polysaccharides, I; MITF, melanocyte inducing transcription factor; MTT, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide; NO, nitric oxide; ROS, reactive oxygen species; SOD, superoxide dismutase; SREBP, sterol regulatory element binding proteins; TBARS, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances; TNF- α, tumor necrosis factor α; TPC, total phenolic content; TRP-1, tyrosinase related protein-1; TRP-2, tyrosinase related protein-2; VLDL, very low-density lipoprotein; WHO, World Health Organization. * Corresponding author at: 2000, Jintong Road, Tangjiawan, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province 519087, China. E-mail address: baojunxu@uic.edu.cn (B. Xu). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Research International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2022.111571 Received 26 March 2022; Received in revised form 15 June 2022; Accepted 23 June 2022