Ethanol-Water Co-Solvent Extraction Optimizes the Yield and Bioactivity of Polysaccharides and Essential Oils From Morel Mushroom.

Morel mushrooms are valued for their bioactive polysaccharides and essential oils, yet optimal extraction methods remain underexplored. This study systematically compared four solvent systems (water, ethanol, water-ethanol, and ethanol-water) for the simultaneous extraction of polysaccharides and essential oils. The results demonstrated that the ethanol-water method achieved better extraction efficiency for both polysaccharides (6.99% yield) and essential oils (37.81% yield). In comparison, the conventional methods had much lower yields; for example, the water method only extracted 6.52% polysaccharides, and the ethanol method only extracted 3.17% essential oils. Moreover, polysaccharides yielded by the ethanol-water method had higher purity, a fuller monosaccharide composition, and a smaller particle size, and were supported by scanning electron micrographs and soluble solids determinations that showed that ethanol-water treatment caused more extensive cellular fragmentation of morel tissues. GC-MS showed characteristic flavor profiles, with the ethanol-water-extracted essential oils being complex, fruity, floral, and oily, while the ethanol-extracted oils were mainly fruity. In the ethanol-water method, the polysaccharides and essential oils exhibited DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging rates of 72.77%, 74.33%, 72.80%, and 55.30%, respectively. Compared to the conventional method, the scavenging ability of polysaccharides against DPPH and ABTS radicals increased by 12.23% and 14.12%, respectively, while that of essential oils improved by 11.90% and 12.70%, respectively. The findings support the ethanol-water co-solvent system as an optimal approach to extract bioactive compounds from morels simultaneously, and thus provide an efficient, scalable methodology for nutraceutical applications.