Consumption of mushroom has increased remarkably because of their desirable aroma, taste
and high nutritional content. This study was undertaken to measure and compare the antioxidant
activity, total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) of Agaricus bisporous
(white button mushroom) and Agaricus brasiliensis (Brazilian mushroom) in aqueous and
60% ethanol extract. Results showed that button mushroom (21.47 ± 0.48 mg GAE/g of dry
weight) had significant higher TPC in aqueous whereas Brazilian mushroom (12.50 ± 0.22 mg
GAE/g of dry weight) had significant higher TPC in 60% ethanol (p< 0.05). In terms of TFC,
Brazilian mushroom had higher content than button mushroom in both types of solvents. For
FRAP assay, Brazilian mushroom had significantly higher total antioxidant activity than the
button mushroom in 60% ethanol (p < 0.05) but opposite trend with aqueous. For DPPH radical
scavenging activity, Brazilian mushroom (60% ethanol) had the lowest EC50 value, followed
by button mushroom (60% ethanol), Brazilian mushroom (aqueous) and button mushroom
(aqueous). Pearson correlation test (p < 0.05) showed strong positive correlation between TPC
and FRAP assay in both extracts (r = 0.969 for 60% ethanol extract; r = 0.973 for aqueous
extract). For TFC, there was a strong positive, correlation with FRAP assay (r = 0.985) in
aqueous extract. In conclusion, high antioxidant activity in ethanol extract of mushrooms due
to presence of phenolic content can potentially be used as a source of natural antioxidants.