Antioxidant activity and growth inhibitory activity of Portuguese wild mushrooms

Some mushrooms are a powerful source of bioactive compounds including antioxidants, inhibitors of human tumour cell lines growth, inducers of apoptosis and ent1ancers of immunity. Indeed, many pre-clinical studies have been conducted in human tumour cell lines and in some cases a number of compounds extracted from mushrooms have followed to Pl1ases I , l l and Ill of clinical trials. There is an enormous source of wild mushrooms in Portugal, particularly in the North. However, to our knowledge, no studies have been conducted so far to verify their bioactivities.