## 3 Results and Discussion
### Chemical Characteristics of Water Soluble Polysaccharides  
In the isolated WSPs the level of carbohydrate, protein and phenolics were determined (Table 2). Polysaccharides extracted from non-processed mushrooms contained \(72.35\pm 3.77\%\) of carbohydrate, \(4.90\pm 0.46\%\) of protein and \(0.59\pm 0.02\%\) of phenolic compounds. Previous research demonstrated a similar quantity of carbohydrate in _L. elodes_ polysaccharides which ranged from 72% [33] to 78% [34]. Other authors who used different extraction method reported higher quantity of carbohydrate (87%), lower amount of protein (\(\sim\)3.5%) and no phenolic compounds [35]. In accordance with the presented results, previous studies have demonstrated similar content of protein but twice higher amount of phenolics [34]. Mushrooms are highly abundant in phenolics and these compounds have tendencies to bind to polysaccharides with hydrogen or even covalent bounds [36; 37]. According to research phenolic antioxidants are released from polysaccharide matrix by probiotic bacteria and then are absorbed into bloodstream [38]. The processing of mushrooms caused various changes in chemical composition. Blanching in citric acid solution resulted in higher carbohydrate content (\(79.67\pm 3.45\%\)) along with lower protein (\(4.03\pm 0.28\%\)) and phenolics content (\(0.49\pm 0.04\%\)). Interestingly, boiling for 15 min affected only (negatively) protein quantity when compared with control samples. The most evident changes were observed in the case of blanching and fermenting, where significant decreases of phenolics and protein (\(0.25\pm 0.02\%\) and \(2.30\pm 0.35\%\), respectively) were noticed. In contrast, the level of \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Treatment** & **WSP Content in Dried Fruiting Bodies** & **WSP Content in Fresh Fruiting Bodies** \\ \cline{2-3}  & **(mg/g dw)** & **(mg/g dw)** \\ \hline Control & \(96.9\pm 0.8\) b & \(10.70\pm 0.09\) c \\ Blanched & \(95.3\pm 4.1\) b & \(10.75\pm 0.22\) c \\ Bøiled & \(112.0\pm 2.0\) c & \(9.40\pm 0.20\) a \\ Blanched and fermented & \(86.7\pm 3.1\) a & \(10.07\pm 0.21\) b \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: The content of the isolated water soluble polysaccharides (WSPs). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Treatment** & **Crabohydrate Content** & **Protein Content** & **Total Phenolics Content** \\ \cline{2-3}  & **(\% dw)** & **(\% dw)** & **(mg Gallic Acid Equivalent per 100 g)** \\ \hline Control & \(72.35\pm 3.77\) a & \(4.90\pm 0.46\) c & \(0.59\pm 0.02\) d \\ Blanched & \(79.67\pm 3.45\) b & \(4.03\pm 0.28\) b & \(0.49\pm 0.04\) c \\ Bøiled & \(71.21\pm 3.29\) a & \(5.12\pm 0.25\) c & \(0.45\pm 0.01\) b \\ Blanched and fermented & \(93.00\pm 3.59\) c & \(2.30\pm 0.35\) a & \(0.25\pm 0.02\) a \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Chemical composition of the isolated WSPs. carbohydrate markedly rose reaching 93.00 \(\pm\) 3.59%. These data is in accordance with previous experiment conducted on _Agaricus bisporus_[22]. The loss of protein and phenolics during lactic acid fermentation of mushrooms can be attributed to enzymes that are produced by bacteria: proteases degrading protein moieties [39] and esterases which release phenolic compounds [40]. Additionally, aqua-thermal processing may cause solubilization or even degradation of low molecular weight phenolics [41]. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy enables us to detect functional groups which are present in a sample and is often used in the analysis of plant and fungi based polysaccharides [42; 43; 44]. FTIR coupled with a ATR accessory a is rapid and non-destructive tool which does not require sample preparation [45]. FTIR analysis may be useful in determination of polymers purity as well as for the detection of the type of glycosidic bond [46]. FTIR analysis of the isolated WSP is presented in Figure 1. The obtained spectra shows bands which are commonly present in polysaccharides mushroom origin.