Four edible mushroom species viz. Pleurotusflorida, Pleurotushypsizygusulmarius, Pleurotuseous and Calocybeindica were studied for the macro and micro mineral contents such as sodium (Na), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), selenium (Se) and phosphorous (P). The spawn for all four species were prepared and mushrooms were cultivated in the cultivation chamber maintained in the college. The dried powdered samples were used for the estimation of mineral contents following the standardised protocols. The results on the dry weight basis (mg/100g) demonstrated that all the four samples contained a considerable amount of macro minerals ranging from Na (0.027 - 0.273), K(0.083 - 0.129), Ca (0.168 - 0.294), Mg (0.086 - 0.641), P (0.099 - 0.76) and micro minerals ranging from Mn (0.016 - 0.065), Fe (0.054 - 3.05), Zn -(0.031 - 0.096), Cu (0.014 - 0.084) and Se (0.001 - 0.02). The findings indicate that these four mushroom species are harbouring significant amount of macro and micro minerals which can play a vital role in the biochemical functioning of the system.
