Polyphenolic compounds of higher fungi have been demonstrated
in vitro to protect against oxidative damage by inhibiting
or quenching free radicals and reactive oxygen species.
Molecules, such as simple phenolic acids, phenylpropanoids and
flavonoids, as well as the highly polymerised molecules; lignin,
melanin and tannins, accumulate naturally as end products from the shikimate and acetate pathways, with flavonoids representing
the most common and widely distributed sub-group with antioxidant
activity . There
are over 8000 naturally occurring phenolic compounds currently
known. In this study,
the antioxidant production of the main bioactive antioxidant components
in the crude mycelial, hot water and methanolic extracts
were determined. The data obtained from the present investigation
provides a comprehensive description of the antioxidant capacity
of each of the selected fungi following growth in submerged
culture.