Assessment of anti-cancer evaluation of new metabolites isolated from baked Sarcosphaera crassa: An edible poisonous mushroom

The growing demand for wild mushrooms as functional foods has increased due to their pharmacological significance. Sarcosphaera crassa is a deadly poisonous mushroom consumed by people living in northern and eastern Europe after being cooked adequately due to its significant properties. Herein, the baked Sarcosphaera crassa was studied for its ingredients. The cytotoxicity of hexane, acetone, and methanol extracts of baked Sarcosphaera crassa was investigated against MCF-7, HT-29, and HeLa cancer cell lines while toxicity against PDF fibroblast healthy cell lines using MTT assay. Acetone and methanol extracts of the baked mushroom exhibited significant cytotoxic activity. Further investigation of cytotoxic extracts afforded three new secondary metabolites, namely, (3β, 22E) ergosta-5, 22-dienyl 3-O-α-yl decanoate (Brassicasteryl decanoate) (1), bis (2- ethylpentadecyl) benzene-1,2-dicarboxylate (2), and (2S)-4-(aziridine-1-yl)-4-oxobutan-2-yl hexadecanoate (3), and six known compounds including ᴅ-sorbitol (4), 3β-ergosta-5,22-dien (5), two ergosterol-endoperoxides (6 and 7), nigerasterol A (8) and 5α,9α-epoksiergosta-7,22-dien, 3β,6α-diol (9). Among them, 2 exhibited effective cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 (IC₅₀: 33.45 ± 2.9 μg/mL) and HT-29 (IC₅₀: 45.53 ± 0.8 μg/mL) cancer cell lines. Compound 3 demonstrated high activity against HeLa (IC₅₀: 30.45 ± 0.35 μg/mL) and MCF-7 (IC₅₀: 33.55 ± 0.49 μg/mL) cancer cell lines, respectively. On the other hand, compound 1 demonstrated moderate cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 and HT-29 cancer cell lines. Besides, against PDF healthy cell lines, all extracts demonstrated lower toxicity. This discovery highlights the significance of Sarcosphaera crassa as a natural functional food reservoir.