Falandysz et al. 2022 - Total mercury and methylmercury in crude and braised Boletus edulis

This study measured total mercury and methylmercury in Boletus edulis carpophores across four developmental stages and after braising. Crude mushrooms contained 0.1880 to 0.2929 mg/kg wet weight total Hg, while braised mushrooms contained 0.2668 to 0.5434 mg/kg wet weight total Hg. Methylmercury made up a small fraction of total Hg, but the source is directly relevant because it speciates MeHg and reports both raw and cooked food forms.

Key numbers

All values below are reported by the source for whole mushroom material.

• Crude Boletus edulis total Hg: 0.1880 +/- 0.0247 to 0.2929 +/- 0.0030 mg/kg wet weight across developmental stages.
• Braised Boletus edulis total Hg: 0.2668 +/- 0.0090 to 0.5434 +/- 0.0071 mg/kg wet weight.
• MeHg share of total Hg in crude mushrooms: 1.0%-3.3%; source summary gives mean 1.9 +/- 0.7%.
• MeHg share of total Hg in braised meals: 0.8%-1.7%; source summary gives mean 1.4 +/- 0.3%.
• Braising increased average total Hg and MeHg contents on a wet-weight meal basis by 52 +/- 31% and 53 +/- 122%, respectively.
• On a dry-weight basis, braising reduced total Hg and MeHg by 40 +/- 14% and 40 +/- 49%, respectively.

Methods (brief)

Boletus edulis carpophores were grouped by developmental stage and processed as crude and braised products. The paper reports total Hg and methylmercury separately, enabling species discipline for tHg and MeHg. Results are reported on both wet-weight and dry-weight bases; the key occurrence values above preserve the wet-weight food basis when the paper gives it.

Implications

Certification: This source can contribute both total Hg and MeHg data to wild mushroom context pools. It should not be collapsed into total mercury alone when MeHg-specific values are needed.

Courses: Useful example of how cooking can increase wet-weight concentrations by water loss while lowering dry-weight content.

App: Supports a wild Boletus mercury context note and shows that MeHg is a small but measured fraction of total Hg in this species.

Wiki pages this source may touch

• wild-mushrooms
• mushrooms
• mushrooms
• mercury-total
• mercury-methyl

Verification notes

• The DOI was minted in 2021, but the journal issue printed in the PDF is 2022; the cite key uses the publication year shown in the PDF header.
• This page preserves the distinction between total Hg and MeHg; total Hg values must not be used as methylmercury values.

Page history

The five most recent substantive edits to this page. The full version history lives in git; when DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.