Morchella esculenta (Morchella esculenta) belongs to the fungi, ascomycetes subphylum (Ascomycotina), Discomycetes (Discomycetes), Discomycetes (Pezizales), Morchellaaceae (Morchellaceae), due to the uneven surface of the cap, such as a goat’s belly, it is known as goat’s belly fungus, its flavorful and nutritious. Tasty, nutritious. Morel mushrooms belong to low-temperature, high humidity fungi, like shade, the growth of the soil environment and vegetation required by a variety of types, generally in the spring and summer out of mushrooms, and its yield and rainfall has a direct relationship.

Nutrients

1.1 Amino acids and protein
The content of protein in morel mushrooms can reach more than 20%. Protein of morel mushroom has glucan cleavage enzyme activity, lipoxygenase activity and inhibition of platelet aggregation and other functions; selenium modification can improve the in vitro antioxidant activity of morel mushroom protein; morel mushroom protein is digested and decomposed to form some peptide segments and amino acids have the efficacy of lowering blood pressure and antibacterial.

1.2 Lipids
Lipids is a general term for fats and lipids, which is an important component of the body. Fat is the main component of the cell membrane, and the lipid content of every 100g of morel mushrooms is 3.82-6.16g, and the fatty acid species are very rich.

1.3 Vitamins
Vitamins in morel mushrooms are not only rich in content, but also in a wide variety.Czeczuga found that morel mushrooms contain VB, VE, niacin, folic acid, pantothenic acid, biotin, three kinds of carotenoids (β-carotene, δ-carotene and ζ-carotene) and four lutein (zeaxanthin, astaxanthin, citrulline and luteinofuranoside); the spiked morel mushrooms contain three carotenoids (δ-carotene, ζ-carotene, δ-carotene, ζ-carotene). carotene, ζ-carotene and γ-carotene) and five lutein (keratine, astaxanthin, zeaxanthin, streptozotocin and rhodopsin) in M. acuminata.

Zhang Guanglun et al. found that each 100g of rough stalked morel mushroom contained VB1 3.92mg, VB2 24.6mg, pyridoxine 5.90mg, biotin 0.75 mg, folic acid 3.48mg, niacin 82.00mg, pantothenic acid 8.27mg, and VB12 0.00362mg.

1.4 Minerals
Liu Minli et al. measured at least 20 mineral elements in Agaricus blazei by plasma direct-reading spectroscopy analysis, including macronutrients such as Ca, Mg, P and trace elements such as Zn, Mn, Cu, Co, Cr, Fe, Ni, B, Sr and V. The results showed that the mineral content in Agaricus blazei was higher than that of the other minerals, but the mineral content in Agaricus blazei was lower than that of the other minerals.

1.5 Carbohydrates
Morel mushrooms are rich in carbohydrates, and the carbohydrate content per 100g of morel mushrooms in Changbai Mountain, Hubei, Guizhou and Henan regions are 38.6, 38.1, 39.7 and 38.1g respectively.

Functional components

2.1 Polysaccharide
Morel mushroom polysaccharide consists of glucose, fructose, mannose and alginate, is a kind of miscellaneous polysaccharide. Mingjian et al. used high-performance liquid chromatography, UV and infrared spectroscopy to study the polysaccharides of morel mushrooms, and the results showed that morel mushrooms polysaccharides contain proteins, protein-polysaccharide complexes. Fu Lihong et al. found that the polysaccharide components in the carbohydrates of morel mushrooms are all α-pyranoglycans containing sulfate groups.

2.2 Polyphenols
Liao et al. studied the antioxidant activity of polyphenol extracts in three different solvents, and the results showed that the methanol-phase polyphenol extracts had the strongest ability to scavenge the cationic radicals of 2,2′-biazido-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid, and the aqueous-phase polyphenol extracts had the strongest ability to scavenge the cationic radicals of 1,1-diphenyl-2- picrylhydrazyl, and the aqueous-phase polyphenol extracts scavenged the cationic radicals of 1,1-diphenyl-2- picrylhydrazyl. picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, and ethyl acetate phase polyphenol extract had the strongest oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC).

2.3 Sterols
Sterols are widely found in biological tissues and intracellular sterols have the effect of enhancing the stability of membrane structure. Phytosterols have strong anti-inflammatory effects, can inhibit the body’s absorption of cholesterol, promote cholesterol degradation and metabolism, inhibit the biochemical synthesis of cholesterol.

2.4 Fatty acids
Morel mushrooms contain a variety of fatty acid compounds, mainly C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2, etc., with high medicinal value. It was found that the mass fractions of oleic acid and linoleic acid in morel mushrooms were 29% and 56%, respectively.

The high content of C18:1 and C18:2 is one of the important reasons why morel mushrooms can scavenge free radicals, lower blood lipids and anti-aging. Meanwhile, the ketones, lipids and ether compounds produced by the oxidation or degradation of C18:1 and C18:2 play a synergistic and harmonizing role in the mycelium of Agaricus mycelium.

2.5 Enzymes
Moriguchi et al. discovered and isolated three γ-glutamyl transpeptidases with different molecular masses from the mycelium of morel mushrooms, which can catalyze different transpeptide reactions and hydrolysis reactions.Yu Shukun et al. discovered and isolated α-4-glucan cleavage enzyme from morel mushrooms and spiking morel mushrooms, which has a molecular mass of about 121 Da, and can catalyze the production of fructose from glucose oligomers and polymers .

2.6 Dietary Fiber
Dietary fiber plays an important role in maintaining digestive health and is indispensable for a healthy diet. Every 100g of morel mushrooms in Qinghai area contains 6.26g of dietary fiber, and every 100g of morel mushrooms in Changbai Mountain area contains 7.8g of dietary fiber. morel mushrooms with high dietary fiber content can prevent diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease in the long term.

Conclusion

With the development of the economy, the improvement of people’s living standards and the cognition of the nutritional and health care value of morel mushrooms, the demand for morel mushrooms is increasing year by year, and the market development prospect is broad.

At present, there are research reports and sales of morel mushroom products are morel mushroom nutritional solution, morel mushroom capsules, crispy morel mushroom cookies, morel mushroom fermented vinegar, morel mushroom nutritional fortification of rice wine, etc., its type of the overall small, relatively low value-added, and its specific function of the health food open up to a wide range of prospects.

Research on the nutrients and functional components of morel mushrooms tends to focus on proteins, polysaccharides and other macromolecules, and research on amino acids and trace elements is limited to the biological level. In the future, researchers need to continue to innovate, strengthen the relevant basic, application and standard aspects of the study, to provide theoretical support for the application of morel mushrooms, and promote the development of morel mushroom industry.