Volume: 5, 2026
5th International PhD Students’ Conference at the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland:
ENVIRONMENT – PLANT – ANIMAL – PRODUCT
Abstract number: F009
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24326/ICDSUPL5.F009
Published online: 22 April 2026
Chemical composition, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the Blushing Bracket (Daedalea quercina)
Agata Michalska*, Jakub Murat and Michał Świeca
1 Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry, University of Life Sciences, 8 Skromna St., Lublin, Poland
* Corresponding author: agata.michalska@up.edu.pl
Mushrooms constitute a diverse group of organisms with significant nutritional importance, valued for both their nutritional properties and health-promoting potential. Their biological activity results from the presence of numerous bioactive compounds, such as polysaccharides (β-glucans), sterols, and terpenoids, whose content depends, among others, on species and environmental conditions.
This study aimed to evaluate the content of selected bioactive compounds and the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of extracts from the fruiting bodies of Daedalea quercina (Blushing Bracket). To ensure an efficient extraction of diverse groups of bioactive compounds, a sequential extraction has been used (E1: Na₂CO₃ solution, E2: 70% ethanol, and E3: hot water (80 °C).
The results demonstrated that the extract obtained with alkaline solvent (E1) was characterized by the highest content of analysed compounds, including proteins (10.7 mg BSA/g d.w.), polysaccharides (15.3 mg GE/g d.w.), triterpenes (5.45 mg UAE/g d.w.), and polyphenols (6.41 mg GAE/g d.w.). The results obtained for the extracts from the subsequent stages (E2, E3) confirm that the first solvent used was already effective in isolating the majority of the active compounds. For example, the content of phenolic compounds in E2 and E3 accounted for only 12% and 28% of the total, respectively.
The E1 extract also exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity, reaching 9.39 mg TE/g d.w. in the ABTS test and 3.63 mg TE/g d.w. in the reducing power test. As expected, the extracts from the two remaining stages exhibited significantly lower activity, for example, amounting to 15% and 32% in the ABTS assay, respectively. In the anti-inflammatory assays, both the alkaline (E1) and aqueous (E3) extracts demonstrated the ability to inhibit lipoxygenase (IC₅₀=4.96 mg/ml and 5.76 mg/ml, respectively) and xanthine oxidase (IC₅₀=6.68 mg/ml and 5.42 mg/ml, respectively), while the ethanolic extract did not have those activities.
The obtained results confirm that the choice of extraction solvent significantly affects the chemical composition and biological activity of Daedalea quercina extracts, and that the use of a Na₂CO₃ solution enables the preparation of extracts with the highest bioactive potential.
This research is funded by the National Science Centre, Poland (Grant Opus no. 2022/45/B/NZ9/01892).
Keywords: bioactive compounds; extraction solvent; medicinal mushrooms; oxidative stress; sequential extraction
How to cite
Michalska A., Murat J., Świeca M., 2026. Chemical composition, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the Blushing Bracket (Daedalea quercina). In: 5th International PhD Students’ Conference at the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland: Environment – Plant – Animal – Product. https://doi.org/10.24326/ICDSUPL5.F009