BackgroundMushrooms are considered as next-generation healthy food components. Owing to their low-fat content, high-quality proteins, dietary fiber, and rich source of nutraceuticals. They are ideally preferred in formulation of low-caloric functional foods. In this view, the breeding strategies of mushroomAuricularia cornea(A. cornea) focusing on high yield and higher quality with rich nutritional values and health benefits are still needed.Materials and methodsA total of 50 strains ofA. corneawere used to analyze the bio efficiency and the time required for fruiting body formation following the cultivation experiment. The calorimetric method was used to evaluate the antioxidant activity and quantify the crude polysaccharides and minerals content thereafter.ResultsThe results showed that the time required for fruiting body formation and biological efficiency varied significantly among the selected strains. Noticeably, the wild domesticated strain Ac13 ofA. corneamushroom showed the shortest fruit development time (80 days). Similarly, the hybrid strains including Ac3 and Ac15 possessed the highest biological efficiency (82.40 and 94.84%). Hybrid strains Ac18 (15.2%) and cultivated strains Ac33 (15.6%) showed the highest content of crude polysaccharides, while cultivated strains Ac1 and Ac33, demonstrated the highest content of total polysaccharides in the fruiting body (216 mg. g−1and 200 mg. g−1). In the case of mineral content, the highest zinc contents were observed from the cultivated strain Ac46 (486.33 mg·kg−1). The maximum iron content was detected from the hybrid strain Ac3 (788 mg·kg−1), and the wild domesticated strain Ac28 (350 mg·kg−1). The crude polysaccharides of theA. corneastrain showed significant antioxidant potential, and the ability of Ac33 and Ac24 to scavenge DPPH radicals and ABTS, which was significantly improved compared to other strains, respectively. Principal component analysis was applied to examine the agronomic traits and chemical compounds of various strains ofA. corneamushrooms. The results revealed that cultivated, wild domesticated, and hybrid strains ofA. corneaexhibited distinct characteristics in terms of growth, yield, and nutritional properties.ConclusionThe crude polysaccharides fromA. corneamushroom strains act as natural antioxidants, the wild, hybrid, and commercialA. corneamushroom strains can achieve rapid growth, early maturation, and high yields. The evaluation of biochemical indexes and nutritional characteristics of strains with excellent traits provided a scientific basis for initiating high-quality breeding, provided germplasm resources for the production of “functional food” with real nutritional and health value.