Table 1 Examples of medicinal mushrooms, their bioactive substances, medicinal properties, and applications
From: Increasing the production of the bioactive compounds in medicinal mushrooms: an omics perspective
Mushroom | Bioactive compounds | Medicinal properties | Other applications | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Pleurotus spp. (oyster mushrooms) | Lovastatin, ergothioneine, lectins, triterpenoids, peptides, polysaccharides (such as Pleuran) | Antitumor, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities | •Lowering cholesterol levels and blood pressure if added to animal diet •Pleuran: effective for preventing recurrent respiratory tract infections | |
Lentinula edodes (shiitake) | Lentinan, eritadenine (lentinacin), lentin, polysaccharide KS-2, lentinamycin, considerable amounts of ergosterol, and γ-aminobutyric acid | Antitumor, cholesterol-lowering, antimicrobial and antiviral activities | •Lentinan: suppressing multiplication of leukemic cells •Eritadenine: considerably decreasing cholesterol and triglyceride •KS-2 polysaccharides: active against Ehrlich and Sarcoma-180 tumors •Ethanol extracts derived from fruiting bodies: reducing CH72 cells multiplication •Lentinamycin, lentin, and lentinan: possessing antimicrobial and antiviral effects | |
Flammulina velutipes (enokitake) | Vitamins, amino acids, steroids, phenolic acids, fatty acids Polysaccharides Terpenoids Sterols Agglutinins Proteins Fip-FVE protein and enokipodins Flammulin protein Proflamin glycoprotein(a weakly acidic glycoprotein) effects Ergosterol | Antitumor, acetylcholinesterase inhibitory, and antioxidant activities Antimicrobial Antitumor and antioxidant Antitumor Immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties Antimicrobial activity Activity against different types of cancer cells Antitumor | •Reducing the level of cholesterol in the human body •Lowering the immunological reaction in the event of food allergies •Protecting fish and meat from oxidation as a preservative in the form of extracts and powders | |
Flammulina filiformis | Polysaccharides (glucans and heteropolysaccharides), sesquiterpenes, proteins (FIP-fve), flavonoids, glycosides, phenols | Antioxidant, antitumor, and anti-aging effects anti-atherosclerotic thrombosis inhibition and anticancer properties | Possessing potential for utilization in bioethanol production due to its lignin degradation capacity and alcohol dehydrogenase production | |
H.erinaceus (lion’s mane) | Terpenoids (erinacines), volatile aroma compounds, pyrones (erinapyrones A–C), phenols (hericenone A–E), fatty acids, sterols (erinarol, hericerins, hericenes), and non-ribosomal peptides (fumitremorgin C) Primary polysaccharide compounds Diterpenoids (such as cyathane terpenoids, erinacine A to G) Lectins | Anti-aging and anti-dementia properties Antitumor and antioxidant effects Hypoglycemic, antitumor, neuroprotective, and antibacterial properties Potential neuroprotective effects, assisting the biosynthesis of nerve growth factors in cell cultures Hemagglutinating activity, effective on adhesive features of erythrocytes | •Preventing age-associated neurological illnesses (such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease) •Protecting against cell death due to endoplasmic reticulum stress •Erinacines and hericenones: increasing the synthesis of nerve growth factor (NGF) in cultured astrocytes | |
Dictyophora indusiata | Polysaccharides, un- saturated fatty acids, flavones, and vitamins, albaflavenone (might have antibacterial activity), dictyophorines A and B (two sesquiterpenes stimulating the production of nerve growth factor), 5-(Hydroxymethyl)-2-furfural (with anti-tyrosinase activity) dictyoquinazols A, B, and C (quinazoline compounds with neuroprotective activity against excitatory neurotoxins) | Lipofuscin resistance, mental tranquilization, cardiovascular protective activity, antibiosis, antioxidant, antitumor, and immunomodulation activities | •Improving immunity •Beneficial to the eyes | |
A. cinnamomea | Polysaccharides, antrocamphin, special ergostane triterpenoids (such as antcins C and K), zhankuic acids A, B, and C | Anticancer, antihypertensive and immunomodulatory properties Antioxidant, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, and antihyperlipidemic activities | •Treating various diseases such as abdominal pains, hypertension, hepatitis B, and cancers •Extracts: healing the effects of alcohol intoxication | |
C. militaris | Cordycepin, ergosterol, mannitol, and exopolysaccharides | Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-metastatic effects Cordycepin: possessing antibacterial, anti-leukemia, antifungal, immuno-regulative, cytotoxic (against several types of cancer cells), antitumor properties | •Enhancing the immune system •Cordycepin: a candidate for treating cancer, preventing alcohol-induced hepato-toxicity | |
Tolypocladium guangdongense (C. guangdongensis) | Cordycepic acid, polysaccharides, adenosine | Longevity-increasing, anti-fatigue, and anti-inflammatory effects | •Applications in functional food and medicine industries | |
G. lucidum | Polysaccharides, sterols, proteins, above 130 triterpenoids, nucleic acids Ganoderic acids with anticancer, anti-platelet aggregation, antiviral, hepatoprotective, hypocholesterolemic, antitumor, anti-aging, anti-metastasis, anti-HIV, and histamine release inhibition activities 1, 3-b-D-glucan; a carcinostatic compound (with high immunological and antitumor activities) beneficial for immunotherapy | Antitumor, immunomodulatory and hypoglycemic activities | •Preventing and treating different diseases such as hypertension, gastric cancer, hepatitis, bronchitis, insomnia, neurasthenia, asthma, hypercholesterolemia, inflammation, and heart disease •Mycelium from submerged liquid culture: as a functional food in Taiwan for improving immunity, boosting health, delaying aging, and protecting the liver | [11,14,29,106,107,108,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117,118,119,120,121] |
Phellinus gilvus | High contents of phenylpropanoids and triterpenoids, but their major active compounds are not completely identified | Anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anti-carcinogenesis, antidiabetic, antioxidative, neuroprotective, hepatoprotective, and antifungal effects | Curing different illnesses such as inflammation, stomachache, and tumors | |
V. volvacea | Essential amino acids, terpenoids, vitamins, steroids, lectins, polypeptides, and phenolic compounds Proteins volvatoxin and flammutoxin and polysaccharides γ-aminobutyric acid | Antitumor activities Decreasing neuronal excitability in every part of the nervous system and regulating muscle tone of the human body in a direct way | Extracts: possessing high antioxidant effects, preventing cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases |