आईएसएसएन: 2157-7609
Rhoda S. Onifade, Chibuisi G. Alimba, Clementina O. Adenipekun and Adekunle A. Bakare
White rot fungi (Pleurotus species) are edible mushrooms known for their ability to bioaccumulate contaminants including metals from the environment. There is scarcity of information on the toxic effects of the bioaccumulated metals on organisms at higher trophic levels. In this study, we investigated alterations in haematological indices and erythrocyte morphology and lead bioaccumulation potentials in liver and kidney of Wistar rats fed aqueous extract of Pleurotus pulmonarius cultivated on lead (0, 10, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 mg/L) contaminated rice straw substrate. After 8 weeks of cultivation, mushroom did not germinate in the 1000 mg/L Pb contaminated rice straw. 1 g of mushroom harvested from each of the remaining concentrations showed significant (p