top of page
Windows 7 ultimate collection of wallpapers (60).jpg

The Precious Truffles: Bioactive Compounds as a Source of Various Biological Activities

Waill Elkhateeb 1, Ghoson Daba 1, Tiruveedhula Somasekhar 2 and Narayana Rao Gundoju 3

2024/07/02

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.12625345

29111_edited.jpg

ABSTRACT

Truffles, esteemed members of the kingdom Fungi, are categorized under the phylum Ascomycota and the class Ascomycetes. They belong to the order Pezizales and the family Tuberaceae, with their most prominent and celebrated genus being Tuber. Truffles provide numerous health benefits due to their bioactive compounds. They have antioxidant, anticancer, antiviral, antimicrobial, liver-protective, anti-mutagenic, and anti-inflammatory properties. Truffles are abundant in bioactive compounds, including ascorbic acid, ergosterol, phenolics, flavonoids, terpenoids, phytosterols, and polysaccharides etc. This review primarily focuses on exploring the nutritional composition, secondary metabolites, and biological activities of Tuber melanosporum Vittad, Tuber magnatum Pico, Tuber borchii Vittad, Tuber gennadii, Tuber aestivum Vittad, Tirmania pinoyi, and Tirmania nivea.

AUTHOR AFFILIATIONS

1 Chemistry of Natural and Microbial Products Department, Pharmaceutical Industries Institute, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, 12622, Egypt.
2 Department of Freshmen Engineering, St. Martin’s Engineering College, Dhulapally, Hyderabad, Telangana 500100, India.
3 Department of Chemistry, Maharajah's College autonomous, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh 535002, India.

CITATION

Elkhateeb W, Daba G, Somasekhar T and Gundoju NR (2024) The Precious Truffles: Bioactive Compounds as a Source of Various Biological Activities. Environ Sci Arch 3(2): 40-50.

REFERENCES

Aboutabl ME, Elkhateeb WA, Masoud MA, Daba GM, Afifi AH, Hussein RA. (2022) HPLC and GC–MS–based metabolic profiles and in vivo anticonvulsant, sedative, and antinociceptive potentials of truffles Tirmania nivea and Tirmania pinoyi hydromethanolic extracts in mice. Biomedical Chromatography, 36(12): e5481.‏

Al-Laith AA. (2010) Antioxidant components and antioxidant/antiradical activities of desert truffle (Tirmania nivea) from various Middle Eastern origins. J Food Compos Anal 23: 15–22.

ALKolaibe AG, Elkhateeb WA, Elnahas MO, El-Manawaty M, Deng CY, Wen, TC, Daba GM. (2021) Wound Healing, Anti-pancreatic Cancer, and α-amylase Inhibitory Potentials of the Edible Mushroom, Metacordyceps neogunnii. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology 14(10): 5249-5253.

Angelini P, Tirillini B, Properzi A, Rol C, Venanzoni R. (2015) Identification and bioactivity of the growth inhibitors in Tuber spp. methanolic extracts. Plant Biosystems-An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant Biology, 149(6): 1000-1009.‏

Bach C, Beacco P, Cammaletti P, Babel-Chen Z, Levesque E, Todesco F, Murat C. (2021) First production of Italian white truffle (Tuber magnatum Pico) ascocarps in an orchard outside its natural range distribution in France. Mycorrhiza, 31: 383-388.‏

Beara I, Lesjak M, ˇCetojevi´c-Simin D, Marjanovi´c ˇZS, Risti´c J, Mrkonji´c ZO, Mimica-Duki´c, N. M. (2014) Phenolic profile, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of black (Tuber aestivum Vittad.) and white (Tuber magnatum Pico) truffles. Food Chemistry, 165: 460–466.

Costa R, Fanali C, Pennazza G, Tedone L, Dugo L, Santonico M, Mondello L. (2015) Screening of volatile compounds composition of white truffle during storage by GCxGC-(FID/MS) and gas sensor array analyses. LWT - Food Science and Technology, 60(2), 905–913.

Daba GM, Elkhateeb W, ELDien AN, Fadl E, Elhagrasi A, Fayad W, Wen TC. (2020) Therapeutic potentials of n-hexane extracts of the three medicinal mushrooms regarding their anti-colon cancer, antioxidant, and hypocholesterolemic capabilities. Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity 21(6): 1-10.

Dahham S, Al-Rawi S, Ibrahim A, Abdul Majid A, Abdul Majid A. (2018) Antioxidant, anticancer, apoptosis properties and chemical composition of black truffle Terfezia claveryi. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 25(8): 1524–1534.

Das M, Mukherjee G, Biswas P, Mahle R, Banerjee R. (2020) Black Truffle-An Exorbitant Creation of Nature. Austin J Nutrition Metabolism, 7(1): 1-4.

Elkhateeb W, Elnahas M, Daba G. (2021a) Infrequent Current and Potential Applications of Mushrooms.‏ (pp.70-81) CRC Press.‏

Elkhateeb W, Elnahas MO, Paul W, Daba GM. (2020b) Fomes fomentarius and Polyporus squamosus models of marvel medicinal mushrooms. Biomed Res Rev 3: 119.‏

Elkhateeb W, Thomas P, Elnahas M, Daba G. (2021c) Hypogeous and Epigeous Mushrooms in Human Health. In Advances in Macrofungi (pp. 7-19) CRC Press.‏

Elkhateeb WA, Daba G. (2020b) The endless nutritional and pharmaceutical benefits of the Himalayan gold, Cordyceps; Current knowledge and prospective potentials. Biofarmasi Journal of Natural Product Biochemistry 18(2): 1-10.‏

Elkhateeb WA, Daba GM, Elmahdy EM, Thomas PW, Wen TC, Mohamed N. (2019c) Antiviral potential of mushrooms in the light of their biological active compounds. ARC J Pharmac Sci 5: 8-12.‏‏

Elkhateeb WA, Daba GM, Elnahas M, Thomas P, Emam M. (2020a) Metabolic profile and skin-related bioactivities of Cerioporus squamosus hydromethanolic extract. Biodiversitas Journal Biological Div 21(10).‏

Elkhateeb WA, Daba GM, Thomas PW, Wen TC. (2019a) Medicinal mushrooms as a new source of natural therapeutic bioactive compounds. Egypt Pharmaceu Journal 18(2): 88-101.‏

Elkhateeb WA, Daba GM. (2021a) Mycotherapy of the good and the tasty medicinal mushrooms Lentinus, Pleurotus, and Tremella.‏ Journal of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology Research 4(3): 1-6.

Elkhateeb WA, Daba GM. (2021b) The Fascinating Bird’s Nest Mushroom, Secondary Metabolites and Biological Activities.‏ International Journal of Pharma Research and Health Sciences 9 (1): 3265-3269.

Elkhateeb WA, Daba GM. (2021c) Highlights on Unique Orange Pore Cap Mushroom Favolaschia Sp. and Beech Orange Mushroom Cyttaria sp. and Their Biological Activities. Open Access Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 5(3): 1-6.

Elkhateeb WA, Daba GM. (2021d) Highlights on the Wood Blue-Leg Mushroom Clitocybe Nuda and Blue-Milk Mushroom Lactarius Indigo Ecology and Biological Activities. Open Access Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 5(3): 1-6.

Elkhateeb WA, Daba GM. (2021e) Highlights on the Golden Mushroom Cantharellus cibarius and unique Shaggy ink cap Mushroom Coprinus comatus and Smoky Bracket Mushroom Bjerkandera adusta Ecology and Biological Activities. Open Access Journal of Mycology & Mycological Sciences 4(2): 1-8.

Elkhateeb WA, Daba GM. (2021f) The coral mushrooms Ramaria and Clavaria. Studies in Fungi, 6(1): 495–506.

Elkhateeb WA, Daba GM. (2022a) Medicinal mushroom: What should we know?. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Analysis 9(1): 1-19.

Elkhateeb WA, Daba GM. (2022b) The wild non edible mushrooms, what should we know so far?.‏ International Journal of Advanced Biochemistry Research 6(1): 43-50.

Elkhateeb WA, Daba GM. Vitamin D Enriched Edible Mushrooms: (2023a) A Review. Open Access Journal of Mycology & Mycological Sciences 6(1):1-6.

Elkhateeb WA, Daba, G. (2020a) The endless nutritional and pharmaceutical benefits of the Himalayan gold, Cordyceps; Current knowledge and prospective potentials. Biofarmasi Journal of Natural Product Biochemistry 18(2): 70-77.

Elkhateeb WA, El Ghwas D, Gundoju N, Somasekhar T, Akram M, Daba GM. (2021b) Chicken of the Woods Laetiporus sulphureus and Schizophyllum Commune Treasure of Medicinal Mushrooms. Open Access Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology 6(3): 1-7.

Elkhateeb WA, El-Ghwas DE, Daba GM. (2023c) Mushrooms and Lichens the Factory of Important Secondary Metabolites. Journal of biomedical research and environmental sciences 4(6): 1072-1082.‏

Elkhateeb WA, El-Ghwas DE, Daba GM. (2023d) Anti-Inflammatory agents from Mushrooms: A Review. Open Access Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 7(1): 1-7.

Elkhateeb WA, Elnahas MO, Thomas PW and Daba GM. (2020c) Trametes Versicolor and Dictyophora Indusiata Champions of Medicinal Mushrooms. Open Access Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 4(1): 1-7.

Elkhateeb WA, Elnahas MO, Thomas PW, Daba GM. (2019b) To Heal or Not to Heal? Medicinal Mushrooms Wound Healing Capacities. ARC Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 5(4): 28-35.‏

Elkhateeb WA, Galappaththi MC, El-Ghwas DE, Daba G. (2023b) The Anti-Diabetic Potential Of Mushrooms: A Review. Current Trends in Biotechnology and Pharmacy 17(4): 1415-1424.‏

‏Elkhateeb WA, Soliman AA, Shaheen MN, Elmahdy EM, Daba GM. (2024) Bioactive potentials of the truffle mushrooms Tirmania nivea, Tirmania pinoyi and Tuber indicum. Egyptian Pharmaceutical Journal, 23(1): 94-102.‏

Elkhateeb WA, Zaghlol GM, El-Garawani IM, Ahmed EF, Rateb ME, Moneim AE. (2018) Ganoderma applanatum secondary metabolites induced apoptosis through different pathways: In vivo and in vitro anticancer studies. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 101: 264-277.‏

Elkhateeb WA. (2020) What medicinal mushroom can do?. Chem Res J 5(1): 106-118.‏

Fratianni F, Di Luccia A, Coppola R, Nazzaro F. (2007) Mutagenic and antimutagenic properties of aqueous and ethanolic extracts from fresh and irradiated Tuber aestivum black truffle: A preliminary study. Food Chemistry, 102: 471-474.

Gil-Ramírez A, Pavo-Caballero C, Baeza E, Baenas N, Garcia-Viguera C, Marín FR, Soler-Rivas C. (2016) Mushrooms do not contain flavonoids. J Funct Foods 25: 1–13.

Graziosi S, Hall IR, Zambonelli A. (2022) The mysteries of the white truffle: its biology, ecology and cultivation. Encyclopedia, 2(4): 1959-1971.‏

Hamza A, Jdir H, Zouari N. (2016 b) Nutritional, antioxidant and antibacterial properties of Tirmania nivea, a wild edible desert truffle from Tunisia arid zone. Med Aromat Plants 5:258.

Hamza A, Zouari N, Zouari S, Jdir H, Zaidi S, Gtari M, Neffati M. (2016 a) Nutraceutical potential, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of Terfezia boudieri Chatin, a wild edible desert truffle from Tunisia arid zone. Arabian Journal of Chemistry, 9(3): 383-389.‏

Hapuarachchi KK, Elkhateeb WA, Karunarathna SC, Cheng CR, Bandara AR, Kakumyan P, Hyde KD, Daba GM, Wen TC. (2018) Current status of global Ganoderma cultivation, products, industry and market. Mycosphere 9(5): 1025-1052.‏

Jiang X, Teng S, Wang X, Li S, Zhang Y, Wang D. (2018) The antidiabetic and antinephritic activities of Tuber melanosporum via modulation of Nrf2-mediated oxidative stress in the db/db mouse. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. 2018:14.

Kalaˇc, P. (2013) A review of chemical composition and nutritional value of wild-growing and cultivated mushrooms. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 93 (2): 209–218.

Lee H, Lee H, Nam K, Zahra Z, Zahra Z, Farooqi MQ. (2020) Potentials of truffles in nutritional and medicinal applications: A review. Fungal Biology and Biotechnology, 7(1): 1–17.

Marathe S, Hamzi W, Bashein A, Deska J, Seppänen-Laakso T, Singhal R, Shamekh S. (2020) Anti-angiogenic and anti-inflammatory activity of the summer truffle (Tuber aestivum Vittad.) extracts and a correlation with the chemical constituents identified therein. Food Research International, 137, 109699.‏

Mustafa A, Angeloni S, Nzekoue F, Abouelenein D, Sagratini G, Caprioli G, Torregiani E. (2020) An overview on truffle aroma and main volatile compounds. Molecules, 25(24), 5948.‏

Napoli C, Mello A, Borra A, Vizzini A, Sourzat P, Bonfante P. (2010) Tuber melanosporum, when dominant, affects fungal dynamics in truffle grounds. The New Phytologist. 185(1): 237–247.

‏Panche AN, Diwan AD, Chandra SR. (2016) Flavonoids: an overview. J Nutr Sci 5: 1–15.

Patel S, Rauf A, Khan H, Khalid S, Mubarak M. (2017) Potential health benefits of natural products derived from truffles: A review. Trends in Food Science and Technology. 70: 1-8.

Patel S. (2012) Food, health and agricultural importance of truffle: A review of current scientific literature. Current Trends Biotechnol. Pharm 6: 15–27.

Payen T, Murat, C, Bonito G. (2014) Truffle phylogenomics: New insights into truffle evolution and truffle life cycle. In Advances in Botanical Research; Elsevier: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 70: 211–234.

S´anchez, C. (2017) Reactive oxygen species and antioxidant properties from mushrooms. Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology, 2(1): 13–22.

Samuel O. Ede, Stephen O. Ojerinde, Tivlumum J. Akpen, Oluwole B. Akawa, Victoria F. Ajayi, Rebecca F. Ede, John C. Aguiyi. (2016) Hypoglycaemic and antioxidant effects of the basidiomycetes Lyophyllum connatum (Lyophyllaceae) and Tuber melanosporum (Tuberaceae) in mice; J. Pharmacy & Bioresources 13 (1): 7-13.

Segneanu AE, Cepan M, Bobica A, Stanusoiu I, Dragomir IC, Parau A, Grozescu I. (2021) Chemical Screening of Metabolites Profile from Romanian Tuber spp. Plants, 10(3), 540.‏

Soliman G, Elkhateeb W, Wen TC, Daba G. (2022) Mushrooms as efficient biocontrol agents against the root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita. Egyptian Pharmaceutical Journal, 21(1): 68-74.

Splivallo, R. (2008) Biological significance of truffle secondary metabolites. In Secondary metabolites in soil ecology (pp. 141-165). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Tejedor-Calvo E, Morales D, Marco P, Venturini M, Blanco D, Soler-Rivas C. (2019) Effects of combining electron-beam or gamma irradiation treatments with further storage under modified atmospheres on the bioactive compounds of Tuber melanosporum truffles. Postharvest Biology and Technology 155: 149-155.‏

Tejedor-Calvo, E, Amara K, Reis F, Barros L, Martins A, Calhelha R, Ferreira, I. (2021) Chemical composition and evaluation of antioxidant, antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities of Tuber and Terfezia truffles. Food research international, 140, 110071.‏

Thomas P, Elkhateeb WA, Daba GM. (2021a) Industrial Applications of Truffles and Truffle-like Fungi. In Advances in Macrofungi (pp. 82-88) CRC Press.‏

Thomas PW, Elkhateeb WA, Daba G. (2021b) Truffle and truffle-like fungi from continental Africa. Acta mycologica 54(2): 1-15.

Thomas PW, Elkhateeb WA, Daba GM. (2020) Chaga (Inonotus obliquus): a medical marvel but a conservation dilemma?. Sydowia 72: 123-130.

Üstün N, Bulam S, Peksen A. (2018) Biochemical properties, biological activities and usage of truffles. In Proceedings of the Conference: International Congress on Engineering and Life Science, Kastamonu, Turkey (pp. 26-29).‏

Vahdatzadeh M, Splivallo R. (2018) Improving truffle mycelium flavour through strain selection targeting volatiles of the Ehrlich pathway. Sci. Rep., 8, 1–12.

Wang S, Marcone MF. (2011) The biochemistry and biological properties of the world’s most expensive underground edible mushroom: Truffles. Food Research International 44(9): 2567–2581.

Wu Z, Jayachandran M, San Cheang W, Xu, B. (2022) Black Truffle Extract Exerts Antidiabetic Effects through Inhibition of Inflammation and Lipid Metabolism Regulation. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, 2022.‏

Yan X, Wang Y, Sang X, Fan L. (2017) Nutritional value, chemical composition and antioxidant activity of three Tuber species from China. AMB Express. 7(1): 136.

Zambonelli A, Donnini D, Rana G, Fascetti S, Benucci G, Iotti M, Venturella G. (2014) Hypogeous fungi in Mediterranean maquis, arid and semi-arid forests. Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with All Aspects of Plant Biology, 148(2): 392–401.

Zhang L, Yang ZL, Song D. (2005) A phylogenetic study of commercial Chinese truffles and their allies: Taxonomic implications. FEMS Microbiol. Lett., 245: 85–92.

Zhao W, Wang X H, Li H M, Wang S H, Chen T, Yuan Z, Tang Y. (2014) Isolation and characterization of polysaccharides with the antitumor activity from Tuber fruiting bodies and fermentation system. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 98(5): 1991-2002.

by.png

License: Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. Visit for more details http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

bottom of page