## 3 Results
### Extraction Yield and Chemical Composition
The health benefits of \(\beta\)-glucans, namely prebiotic, antiviral, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antilipidemic, antidiabetic, \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Extraction Yield**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Protein (g/100 g**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Total Glucans**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{\(\alpha\)**–Glucans**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{\(\beta\)**–Glucans**} \\  & & **(\%)** & **of Dry Extract** & **(g/100 g of Dry Extract)** & **(g/100 g of Dry Extract)** & **(g/100 g of Dry Extract)** \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{_P. ostreatus_} & M1 & 37.22 \(\pm\) 0.84 a & 24.25 \(\pm\) 1.15 a & 33.75 \(\pm\) 1.68 a & 21.10 \(\pm\) 0.57 & 12.65 \(\pm\) 1.67 \\  & M2A & 34.55 \(\pm\) 0.09 a & 22.82 \(\pm\) 0.21 a & 30.17 \(\pm\) 0.19 a & 15.30 \(\pm\) 0.75 & 14.87 \(\pm\) 2.29 \\  & M2B & 21.78 \(\pm\) 0.78 b & 27.69 \(\pm\) 1.18 b & 32.04 \(\pm\) 0.29 a & 22.42 \(\pm\) 2.97 & 9.62 \(\pm\) 3.24 \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{_P. eryngii_} & M1 & 46.03 \(\pm\) 2.18 c & 14.61 \(\pm\) 0.34 c & 37.96 \(\pm\) 3.62 a & 0.21 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 37.76 \(\pm\)3.64 \\  & M2A & 44.46 \(\pm\) 3.96 c & 12.09 \(\pm\) 0.72 d & n.d. & n.d. & n.d. \\  & M2B & 12.58 \(\pm\) 0.94 d & 21.23 \(\pm\) 1.05 a & 48.57 \(\pm\) 9.05 b & 0.38 \(\pm\)0.01 & 48.19 \(\pm\) 9.05 \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{_A cylindracea_} & M1 & 44.05 \(\pm\) 0.21 c & 27.44 \(\pm\) 0.12 b & 23.10 \(\pm\) 0.98 c & 0.80 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 22.30 \(\pm\) 0.98 \\  & M2A & 30.91 \(\pm\) 0.89 e & 24.67 \(\pm\) 1.10 a & 12.69 \(\pm\) 1.78 d & 0.36 \(\pm\) 0.05 & 11.66 \(\pm\) 0.77 \\ \cline{1-1}  & M2B & 14.77 \(\pm\) 1.49 d & 32.97 \(\pm\) 0.33 e & 14.19 \(\pm\) 0.78 c & 0.82 \(\pm\) 0.05 & 13.37 \(\pm\) 0.77 \\ \hline \end{tabular}  
* n.d.—not determined due to insufficient amount of extract. Extract M1—hot extraction (1 g of mushroom dry matter (DM); 20 m.l of water; 90 \({}^{\circ}\)C, 700 rpm, 1 h); extract M2A—room-temperature extraction (1 g of mushroom DM; 20 m.l of water); extract M2B—hot extraction of residue from M2A (1 g of mushroom DM; 20 m.l of water; 90 \({}^{\circ}\)C, 700 rpm, 1 h).  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Extraction yield and protein, total glucan, \(\alpha\)-glucan, and \(\beta\)-glucan content of extracts M1, M2A, and M2B from _P. ostreatus_, _P. eryngii_, and _A. cylindracea_. The results are presented as the mean \(\pm\) SD. Different letters in each column represent statistical differences using a _p_-value < 0.05.  
and anti-inflammatory properties, have been extensively reported in the literature, while \(\alpha\)-glucans have been associated with prebiotic and antimicrobial activities [8]. Besides health benefits, glucans from mushrooms also have technological properties important for the food industry, namely thickening, stabilizing, emulsifying, foaming, and gelation properties [31]. So, the extracts produced in the present study have a high potential for use in the food or pharmaceutical industries, due to their high glucan content. Regarding the total phenolic content, all three mushroom species were found to be good sources of phenolic compounds. Among them, extracts from _P. ostreatus_ tended to show the highest number of phenolic compounds, followed by extracts from _A. cylindracea_ and finally _P. eryngii_ (Table 2), but these differences had no statistical significance. All aqueous extraction methods were able to extract phenolic compounds, with no particular method standing out among them, as the differences among the mean values of extracts from the same mushroom species were not statistically significant (\(p\) > 0.05). The amounts of total phenolics obtained in each aqueous extract were comparable to what other researchers have previously described, with either aqueous or methanolic extracts. For instance, [PERSON] et al. [32] reported 11.36 \(\pm\) 0.04 mg GAEs/g of polyphenols for an aqueous extract of the dry fruiting body of _P. ostreatus_. Methanolic extracts of dried _P. ostreatus_ revealed lower phenolic contents than aqueous extracts, with values varying between 2.39 mg GAEs/g and 9.64 \(\pm\) 0.33 mg GAEs/g [32; 33].