Studies were carried out to identify edible mushrooms that are able to release ferulic acid from wheat bran. In the five samples tested in the present studies, cultured mycelia of four mushroom species were found to release ferulic acid, with Hericium erinaceus producing the highest ferulic acid yield at 4d of culture, reach 95.51 mg/l in wheat bran broth. Enzymes detection showed that H. erinaceus secreted a large amount of ferulic acid esterase and cellulase. Ferulic acid esterase activity could get up to 2.04 +/- 0.23 mU/ml. It was reported that ferulic acid eaterase is the key enzyme responsible for the release of ferulic acid. However, cellulase, which could decompose cell walls to release ferulic acid of wheat bran, was the only enzyme detected in the fermentation of the other mushrooms; the activities were variable between different mushroom species and fermentation time. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.