Health foods and medicinal usages of mushrooms

Abstract

Many edible mushrooms, such as Reishi, Maitake, Shiitake, Yama‐bushitake, etc., are used in Japan and China to develop not only food materials but also medicines. These mushrooms can be used as highly functional food materials in dishes, concentrates, extracts, liquor, and powdered mushrooms or mycelia. In medicines, three kinds of carcinostatic polysaccharide drugs, such as immunopo‐tentiators (BRM, biological response modifiers), have been developed in Japan: (a) “Lentinan” from the fruiting bodies of Shiitake, (b) “Krestin” (PSK) from the cultured mycelia of Kawaratake, and (c) “Schizophyllan” (Sonifilan) from the cultured broth products of Suehirotake. Other proposed products are extrudates which seem to be promising.