For centuries, Ganoderma has been used as a traditional medicine in Asian countries to prevent and treat various diseases. Numerous publications are stating that Ganoderma species have a variety of beneficial medicinal properties, and investigations on different metabolic regulations of Ganoderma species, extracts or isolated compounds have been performed both in vitro and in vivo. However, it has frequently been questioned whether Ganoderma is simply a dietary supplement for health or just a useful “medication” for restorative purposes. More than 600 chemical compounds including alkaloids, meroterpenoids, nucleobases, nucleosides, polysaccharides, proteins, steroids and triterpenes were extracted and identified from Ganoderma, with triterpenes serving as the primary components. In recent years, Ganoderma triterpenes and other small molecular constituents have aroused the interest of chemists and pharmacologists. Meanwhile, considering the significance of the triterpene constituents in the development of new drugs, this review describes 495 compounds from 25 Ganoderma species published between 1984 and 2022, commenting on their source, biosynthetic pathway, identification, biological activities and biosynthesis, together with applications of advanced analytical techniques to the characterization of Ganoderma triterpenoids.

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A Review of Ganoderma Triterpenoids and Their Bioactivities

Microbial foods for improving human and planetary health

This study examined the effects of a Pleurotus eryngii mushroom snack on metabolically unhealthy patients. After harvest, mushrooms were baked and subjected to UV-B irradiation to enhance vitamin D2 content. A randomized controlled trial was conducted for three months with two arms. Both groups received conventional nutritional counseling for metabolic disorders, while the intervention group had to consume the snack daily as well. We collected blood samples at the beginning and the end of the study to determine biochemical measurements and serum 25(OH)D2 and to evaluate inflammation and oxidative stress. One hundred patients consented and were randomized. Comparatively to the control group, snack consumption regulated glucose levels and reduced body weight, fat, waist and hip circumferences. In addition, 25(OH)D2 increased significantly in the intervention group. The levels of LDL and SGOT were lower only in the intervention group. Levels of IL-6 and ox-LDL decreased in the mushroom group, while the overall physical health increased. These findings suggest potential antidiabetic, antiobesity, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant health benefits of the snack to metabolically unhealthy individuals.

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A Randomized Controlled Trial on Pleurotus eryngii Mushrooms with Antioxidant Compounds and Vitamin D2 in Managing Metabolic Disorders

Cordycepin is the major constituent of Cordyceps mushroom (or Cordyceps militaris) with therapeutic potential. Insects are the direct sources of nutrients for Cordyceps in nature. Therefore, optimized condition of Cordyceps cultivation for efficient cordycepin production was explored using six edible insects as substrates. The highest yield of cordycepin was produced by the cultivation on Allomyrina dichotoma and was 34 times that on Bombyx mori pupae. Among insect components, fat content was found to be important for cordycepin production. Especially, a positive correlation was deduced between oleic acid content and cordycepin production. The transcriptional levels of cns1 and cns2, genes involved in cordycepin biosynthesis, were higher in Cordyceps grown on A. dichotoma than on other insects tested. The addition of oleic acid to the substrates increased cordycepin production together with the transcriptional levels of cns1 and cns2. Therefore, Cordyceps with high content of cordycepin can be secured by the cultivation on insects.

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Cordyceps mushroom with increased cordycepin content by the cultivation on edible insects

USHROOM farming is the practice of growing and cultivating various species of mushrooms for food, medicinal, or industrial purposes. It involves creating the ideal environment and conditions for the mushrooms to grow and thrive, such as providing a substrate (a nutrient-rich material on which mushrooms grow), controlling temperature and humidity

Mushroom Cultivation Systems: Exploring Antimicrobial and Prebiotic Benefits

Background Mushrooms exist as an integral and vital component of the ecosystem and are very precious fungi. Mushrooms have been traditionally used in herbal medicines for many centuries. Scope and Approach There are a variety of medicinal mushrooms mentioned in the current work such as Agaricus, Amanita, Calocybe, Cantharellus, Cordyceps, Coprinus, Cortinarius, Ganoderma, Grifola, Huitlacoche, Hydnum, Lentinus, Morchella, Pleurotus, Rigidoporus, Tremella, Trametes sp., etc., which play a vital role in various diseases because of several metabolic components and nutritional values. Medicinal mushrooms can be identified morphologically on the basis of their size, color (white, black, yellow, brown, cream, pink and purple-brown, etc.), chemical reactions, consistency of the stalk and cap, mode of attachment of the gills to the stalk, and spore color and mass, and further identified at a molecular level by Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) regions of gene sequencing. There are also other methods that have recently begun to be used for the identification of mushrooms such as high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), microscopy, thin-layer chromatography (TLC), DNA sequencing, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), chemical finger printing, ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LCMS-TOF) and high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC). Lately, the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) technique is also used for the identification of fungi. Key Finding and Conclusion Medicinal mushrooms possess various biological activities like anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, anti-tumor, anti-viral, anti-parasitic, anti-microbial, hepatoprotective, anti-HIV, anti-diabetic, and many others that will be mentioned in this article. This manuscript will provide future direction, action mechanisms, applications, and the recent collective information of medicinal mushrooms. In addition to many unknown metabolites and patented active metabolites are also included.

Vivek G. Mahale

Papers

Mushrooms as Potential Sources of Active Metabolites and Medicines