Hericium erinaceus, a culinary and medicinal mushroom, is widely consumed in Asian countries. Chemical investigation on the fruiting bodies of Hericium erinaceus led to the isolation of one new ergostane-type sterol fatty acid ester, erinarol K (1); and eleven known compounds: 5α,8α -epidioxyergosta-6,22-dien-3β-yl linoleate (2); ethyl linoleate (3); linoleic acid (4); hericene A (5); hericene D (6); hericene E (7); ergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one (8); hericenone F (9); ergosterol (10); ergosterol peroxide (11); 3β,5α,6α,22E-ergosta-7,22-diene-3,5,6-triol 6-oleate (12). The chemical structures of the compounds were determined by 1D and 2D NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy, mass spectra, etc. Anti-inflammatory effects of the isolated aromatic compounds (5–7, 9) were evaluated in terms of inhibition of pro-inflammatory mediator (TNF-α, IL-6 and NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated murine RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. The results showed that compounds 5 and 9 exhibited moderate activity against TNF-α (IC₅₀: 78.50 μM and 62.46 μM), IL-6 (IC₅₀: 56.33 μM and 48.50 μM) and NO (IC₅₀: 87.31 μM and 76.16 μM) secretion. These results supply new information about the secondary metabolites of Hericium erinaceus and their anti-inflammatory effects.

The essential oil from Phytolacca dodecandra, a traditional herb of Ethiopia, has been studied, including the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity. The difference between four P. dodecandra samples (P-1–P-4), which differed in gender or location, has also been analyzed. The essential oils were obtained by steam distillation, while the aromas were extracted by head space solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and both were analyzed by gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The oils’ antimicrobial activities were evaluated by the microdilution method against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Candida albicans. Ninety one components, representing 88.37 to 94.01% of the aromas, were identified. The compositions of the aromas of four samples are mainly dominated by aldehydes and ketones: 2-nonanone (1.80–30.80%), benzaldehyde (4.99–25.99%), and sulcatone (2.34–5.87%). Sixty components representing 64.61 to 69.64% of the oils were identified, and phytone (3.04–21.23%), phytol (4.11–26.29%) and palmitic acid (1.49–23.87%) are the major compounds. No obvious antimicrobial activity was observed for all the four essential oils.

Morels (Morchella spp.) are valuable medicinal and edible mushrooms. In this study, chemical profiles of aromas and lipophilic extracts of black morel (Morchella importuna) grown in China were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy, along with the evaluation of antioxidant and antimicrobial activities for the lipophilic extracts. Sixty-five compounds in total were identified from the aromas, and 1-octen-3-ol was the main component for aromas of fresh (34.40%) and freeze-dried (68.61%) black morels, while the most abundant compound for the aroma of the oven-dried sample was 2(5H)-furanone (13.95%). From the lipophilic extracts, 29 compounds were identified with linoleic acid as the main compound for fresh (77.37%) and freeze-dried (56.46%) black morels and steroids (92.41%) as the main constituent for an oven-dried sample. All three lipophilic extracts showed moderate antioxidant activities against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) with the IC₅₀ values ranging 7.56 ∼ 17.52 mg/mL and 5.75 ∼ 9.73 mg/mL, respectively, and no obvious antimicrobial activity was observed for lipophilic extracts. The drying methods affect the chemical profile of black morel, and freeze-drying was favorable for retaining nutrients and morel smell. This is the first report on the aroma and lipophilic extracts of M. importuna grown in China.