Medicinal Mushrooms: Their Bioactive Components, Nutritional Value and Application in Functional Food Production—A Review

Summary & key facts

This paper is a review of research on so-called medicinal mushrooms and how they might be used in foods that boost health. It explains that these mushrooms are low in fat and calories and contain several active compounds, like a kind of dietary fibre called beta-glucans, triterpenes, phenolic compounds, and sterols. Lab and animal studies suggest these compounds can act as antioxidants, affect the immune system, and show anticancer and antidiabetic activity, but scientists say we still need long-term human studies to prove benefits, safety, and the right doses. The authors also say medicinal mushrooms have real potential for new ‘functional’ foods, but more research is needed on how their active parts behave when added to actual food products.

Key facts:

• Medicinal mushrooms are low in fat and low in calories, so they are considered a type of functional food — a food that may help improve health beyond basic nutrition.
• These mushrooms contain several bioactive compounds, including (1,3)(1,6)-beta-glucans (a form of dietary fibre), triterpenes, phenolic compounds, and sterols.
• Laboratory and animal research has shown that mushroom compounds can act as antioxidants and can influence the immune system.
• Some studies suggest mushroom compounds have anticancer and antidiabetic effects, but the exact ways they work in the human body are not yet clear.
• The review says long-term clinical studies in people are still needed to confirm the health benefits, to check safety, and to find correct doses before mushrooms are widely used as health‑boosting food ingredients.
• There is interest in adding medicinal mushrooms into new food products, but scientists warn more work is needed to learn how mushroom compounds interact with other ingredients in real foods.

Abstract

(L.) Lloyd), are considered new-generation foods and are of growing interest to consumers. They are characterised by a high content of biologically active compounds, including (1,3)(1,6)-β-d-glucans, which are classified as dietary fibre, triterpenes, phenolic compounds, and sterols. Thanks to their low-fat content, they are a low-calorie product and are classified as a functional food. They have a beneficial effect on the organism through the improvement of its overall health and nutritional level. The biologically active constituents contained in medicinal mushrooms exhibit anticancer, antioxidant, antidiabetic, and immunomodulatory effects. In addition, these mushrooms accelerate metabolism, help fight obesity, and slow down the ageing processes thanks to their high antioxidant activity. The vast therapeutic properties of mushrooms are still not fully understood. Detailed mechanisms of the effects of medicinal mushrooms on the human organism still require long-term clinical studies to confirm their nutraceutical effects, their safety of use, and their dosage. Medicinal mushrooms have great potential to be used in the design of innovative functional foods. There is a need for further research on the possibility of incorporating mushrooms into food products to assess the interactions of their bioactive substances with ingredients in the food matrix. This review focuses on the properties of selected medicinal mushrooms and their effects on the human organism and presents current knowledge on the possibilities of their use in the production of functional foods.

Topics

Fungal Biology and Applications Herbal Medicine Research Studies Medicinal Plants and Bioactive Compounds

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Pharmacology

Tags

Bioactive compound Biochemistry Biology Botany Chemistry Ecology Food science Functional food Ganoderma Ganoderma lucidum Grifola frondosa Health benefits Hericium erinaceus Inonotus obliquus Lentinula Medicinal fungi Medicine Mushroom Nutraceutical Polysaccharide Raw material Traditional medicine