Glass distilling collector applied for HCN recovery from submerged culture broth and fruiting body of Pleurotus eryngii for identification and quantification

Detection and surveillance of food commodities containing cyanide is a crucial issue of food safety. In this study, five strains of Pleurotus eryngii (P. eryngii) were grown in submerged culture of yeast malt broth (YMB) with the suspected production of HCN. A safety-warranted U-bent glass distilling collector with three enlarged bulbs on each arm was designed to recover the broth vapor. When AgNO(3) solution was used as an absorbent to interact with the vapor, a white precipitate was formed. The precipitate was isolated and identified as AgCN by FT-Raman spectroscopic analysis. When the absorbent was substituted by KOH, after evaporation to dryness, dissolved in D(2)O, and followed by (13)C-NMR analysis, a KCN spectrum was achieved. Formation of AgCN and KCN confirmed HCN production in the broth by P. eryngii. When a sodium picrate solution (1.4%) was used as an absorbent and various authentic KCN solutions were applied for distillation and followed by absorbance determination at 510 nm, a linear dose-dependent relationship was obtained and the procedure was applied for HCN quantification of the marketed P. eryngii mushrooms (fruiting body). As estimated, 67.3% of the products contained HCN less than 1.0 mg/kg, 17.3% between 1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg, and 15.4% higher than 2.0 mg/kg. When the mushrooms were sliced and cooked in water at 95 degrees C for 6 min, 89.1% of the original HCN was lost. When the P. eryngii strains were respectively grown by submerged cultivation in YMB or YMB supplemented with 2.5% glycine for 16 days, HCN content was slightly higher in the latter than in the former for each strain.