6 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 434 



Table 1. — Carbohydrates and Poly- alcohols in Mushrooms 

 (Agaricus Campestris). 



Substance 



Mannitol 



Reducing sugars (as dextrose) -... 



Pentoses, methyl pentoses, hexuronic acids 



Glycogen 



Crude hemicellulose 



Total. .- 2.77 24.88 



*88.90 percent water. 



Vitamins 



Until quite recently little investigational work has been reported on the vitamin 

 content of mushrooms. Orton, McCollum and Simmonds (18) found Agaricus 

 campestris to be a good source of water soluble vitamin B. Hara (8) and Quacken- 

 bush, Peterson, and Steenbock (19) also reported mushrooms to be a good source 

 of the B vitamins. 



Cheldelin and Williams (5) reported the B vitamin content of fresh mushrooms 

 purchased on the market, as gamnia per gram on a fresh weight basis, to be 

 thiamin, 12.5; riboflavin, 3.3; nicotinic acid, 69; pantothenic acid, 17; pyridoxin, 

 0.45; biotin, 0.16; inositol, 170; and folic acid, 0.98. 



The vitamin content of fresh, commercially grown Agaricus campestris has 

 been determined in this laboratory and reported by Anderson and Fellers (1), 

 Brunell, Esselen and Grififiths (3), and Filios and Esselen (6) as shown in table 2. 



It is evident that cultivated mushrooms are one of the best plant sources of 

 several members of the vitamin B complex. They contain an appreciable amount 

 of thiamin and are an excellent source of riboflavin ana micotinic acid as well as a 

 good source of pantothenic acid. 



Table 2. — Vitamin Content of Fresh Mushrooms. 



Mg. per 100 g. 



Vitamin Fresh Weight Basis 



Vitamin A None* 



Vitamin D None* 



Vitamin E None 



Vitamin K + + 



Ascorbic Acid 8.60 



Thiamin 0.12 



Riboflavin 0.52 



Nicotinic Acid 5.85 



Pantothenic Acid - 2.38 



Biotin.... 0.018 



*lnternational units. 



