title: GC-MS studies of the chemical composition of two inedible mushrooms of the genus Agaricus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mushrooms in the genus Agaricus have worldwide distribution and include the economically important species A. bisporus. Some Agaricus species are inedible, including A. placomyces and A. pseudopratensis, which are similar in appearance to certain edible species, yet are known to possess unpleasant odours and induce gastrointestinal problems if consumed. We have studied the chemical composition of these mushrooms using GC-MS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our GC-MS studies on the volatile fractions and butanol extracts resulted in the identification of 44 and 34 compounds for A. placomyces and A. pseudopratensis, respectively, including fatty acids and their esters, amino acids, and sugar alcohols. The most abundant constituent in the volatiles and butanol were phenol and urea respectively. We also identified the presence of ergosterol and two Delta7-sterols. In addition, 5alpha,8alpha-Epidioxi-24(xi)-methylcholesta-6,22-diene-3beta-ol was isolated for the first time from both mushrooms. Our study is therefore the first report on the chemical composition of these two species.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results obtained contribute to the knowledge of the chemical composition of mushrooms belonging to the Agaricus genus, and provide some explanation for the reported mild toxicity of A. placomyces and A. pseudopratensis, a phenonomenon that can be explained by a high phenol content, similar to that found in other Xanthodermatei species.
authors: Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria. vassyab@yahoo.com
authors: Assya
authors: A
authors: Petrova
authors: Kalina
authors: K
authors: Alipieva
authors: Emanuela
authors: E
authors: Kostadinova
authors: Daniela
authors: D
authors: Antonova
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Lacheva
authors: Melania
authors: M
authors: Gjosheva
authors: Simeon
authors: S
authors: Popov
authors: Vassya
authors: V
authors: Bankova