Ten truffle species of Tuber and Terfezia genera were chemical characterized, assessing their proximate composition, individual nutrient compounds and some bioactive molecules. The bioactive properties of these species were also evaluated, namely their antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic potential. Carbohydrates were the main macronutrients present in truffles, followed by proteins. Furthermore, the levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), subsequently presented as a percentage, were higher in truffles (38.2–79.3%) except in Tuber magnatum and Terfezia arenaria, which have a more saturated fatty acids (SFA) profile (70.7% and 53.7%, respectively). Comparing the species, T. magnatum revealed the highest levels of total phenolic compounds (TPC) (290 mg GAE/100 g truffle), as also the best results in the four methods used to evaluate the antioxidant activity. On the other hand, only five extracts obtained from some studied truffle species (Terfezia magnusii, Tuber aes-tivum, Tuber gennadii, and Tuber melanosporum) showed a slight inhibition of microbial growth, tested against different bacteria. Terfezia and T. gennadii extracts, showed potential to inhibit the cellular growth of NCI-H460, HeLa, HepG2, and MCF-7 cell lines (GI50 concentrations range: 19–78, 33–301, 83–321 and 102–321 μg/mL, respectively), indicating anti-proliferative activity. Nevertheless, T. arenaria revealed some potential hepato-toxicity, inhibiting the growth of PLP2 cells (GI50 concentration of 220 μg/mL), a primary cell culture obtained from porcine liver.
The authors thank the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (project RTA2010-00070-C02-02) for finan-cial support; to Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020); and to national funding by FCT, PI, through the institutional scientific employment program-contract for L. Barros’s contract; to the project Valor Natural for the contract of F. Reis (Mobi-lized Project Norte-01-0247-FEDER-024479). This work is also funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), through the Rural Development Program (PDR2020), within the scope of the project MicoCoating (PDR2020-101-03147). The authors also thank to Espora Gourmet for truffle samples supply.
