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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. 3 (2026)

Resolving the species boundaries in wild edible Astraeus mushrooms using phylogeny, morphology and elemental profiling

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.13922
Submitted
31 January 2026
Published
19-08-2026 — Updated on 29-09-2026
Versions

Abstract

The work aims to investigate two regional wild edible Astraeus species, Astraeus asiaticus and Astraeus odoratus, collected from the forest of Chhattisgarh, India. The work was done through an integrated morpho-molecular and nutritional approach to resolve species boundaries and assess their nutraceutical potential. These mushrooms are traditionally harvested by local communities and used as an important component of their seasonal diets. Astraeus, an ectomycorrhizal genus widely distributed across temperate and tropical ecosystems, includes 9 identified species. Some of them have been reported from India. However, taxonomic ambiguity and morphological overlap among these species have often limited the availability of accurate identification data. These mushrooms are valued for their culinary importance and high market demand in Chhattisgarh. Morphological characterisation, combined with internal transcribed spacer-large subunit (ITS-LSU) DNA-based phylogenetic analysis, clearly differentiated the two regional species, A. asiaticus and A. odoratus, with well-resolved Bayesian posterior probabilities. The molecular results supported field-based observations and confirmed species-level distinction. Complementary nutritional assessments in this work revealed species-specific variation and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis demonstrated a broad spectrum of macro- and trace-element concentrations. Both species were found to be rich in essential minerals
(potassium (K), sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co)), while cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) were detected at low levels. This study provides evidence-based differentiation of the two Astraeus species and documents their nutritional and mineral richness. The findings in this work enhance the biological characterisation of these mushrooms and provide a new scientific basis for their safe and informed use.

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