Safety risk assessment of edible fungi

^a State Key Laboratory of Biobased Material and Green Papermaking, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, Shandong, People’s Republic of China
^b School of Bioengineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, Shandong, People’s Republic of China
^c Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250355, Shandong, People’s Republic of China

^* Corresponding author’s email: zqq0608@126.com
^† These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Edible fungi are a typical type of food microorganism, hold significant nutritive value and are considered valuable resources. However, ensuring the safety of these fungi is a crucial concern that must not be underestimated, encompassing both food safety and human health. Tackling this issue is paramount to safeguarding consumer wellbeing and upholding the integrity of the edible fungi industry. The safety risk assessment of edible fungi encompasses numerous facets, and a variety of technical approaches are applied to these areas. For instance, Convolutional Neural Networks and Spectroscopy technology have been utilized to identify the species of edible fungi to ascertain their suitability for human consumption. Bioinformatics methods, such as transcriptome data mining and gene sequencing, have been employed to identify toxic substances and pathogenic microorganisms present in edible fungi, thereby mitigating the risk of food poisoning. Atomic absorption spectroscopy has been employed to assess the heavy metal content in edible fungi, effectively preventing excessive intake of heavy metals by the human body. This paper offers a comprehensive review of the research advancements in safety risk assessment of edible fungi, covering various facets such as edible fungi species identification, toxicity assessment, microbiological safety evaluation, and heavy metal detection. It offers valuable insights for evaluating safety issues related to edible fungi and furnishes theoretical underpinning for mitigating risks of edible fungi poisoning and other safety concerns.