Evaluation of Flavonoid Components in Selenium-Enriched Grey Oyster Mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus (Agaricomycetes) Based on Metabolomics and Network Pharmacology.

As a medicinal mushroom with high nutritional value, Pleurotus ostreatus contains abundant flavonoids, and selenium enrichment may enhance its bioactivity by altering flavonoid profiles. To explore the potential medicinal value of flavonoid components in selenium-enriched P. ostreatus, this study first determined the optimal concentration of sodium selenite by cultivation experiments and performed metabolomics analysis on the optimal concentration group and the control group to screen out differential flavonoids. The targets of upregulated flavonoids were predicted, and their intersection with disease genes was determined to construct a "drug-disease-target" network. Subsequently, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed, and molecular docking was performed for verification. The cultivation experiments revealed that 20 mg/kg was the most suitable selenium-enriched concentration (highest yield). Metabolomics identified 44 different flavonoid metabolites, of which 12 were upregulated and 32 were downregulated. PPI network analysis obtained 10 core targets (CCND1, AR, E2F1, ALB, IGF1R, EP300, MDM2, TP53, DNMT1, ERBB2). GO functional analysis involved 961 biological processes, 80 cellular components, and 164 molecular functions. KEGG enrichment analysis identified 69 pathways. Molecular docking results indicated that flavonoids bound stably to core targets; notably, ALB, EP300, DNMT1, and ERBB2 exhibited lower binding energies with ligands. Sodium selenite can alter the metabolic profile of flavonoids in P. ostreatus. The upregulated flavonoids may exert medicinal value through core targets and related pathways. This study provides a scientific basis for its functional development.