The important aspect of the mushroom conferences held in August ,1993 in Hongkong and another in 1994 in Beijing was the recognition of the nutritional, nutriceutical and medicinal values and studies on mushrooms.
Medicinal ingredients:
- The prominent medicinal ingredients of mushrooms are mostly the polysaccharides which are known to strongly inhibit the development of transplanted tumours in mice . Lentinan , from Lentinulla edodes has specially potent, anti-tumour activity ( chihara et al , 1970 ), stimulating the immune response of the host against cancer. Another compound believed to have antitumour activity , retine has been reported in Agaricus campestris which is the simplest member of a group of compounds known as a keto-aldehyde and present in animal tissues .
Medicines from poisonous mushrooms:
- Amanita muscaria, a deadly poisonous mushroom, commonly called “ fly agaric ”, has been used therapeutically as a powder, tincture for swollen glands, nervous troubles and epilepsy .Muscinol and ibotenic acid prepared from A. muscaria can cure the malfunction of “ GABA” system of brain which is termed as “ Schizophorenia ”. GABA is Gama Amino Butyric Acid – identified as “ Brain break ”.“ Psilocybin ” and “ Psilosin ” are the two other drugs used in medical science to treat mental disorders and which are extracted from the mushrooms Psilocybe mexicana . Amanita phalloides is used against Cholera and intermittent fever.
Medicinal components --Medicines from edible mushrooms:
- Mushrooms have been considered a very good food for the maintenance of health as :
- Mushrooms are relatively high in good quality protein, containing all the amino acids and rich in lycine and leucine.
- Mushrooms are relatively low in total fat.
- Mushrooms have relatively large amount of carbohydrates and most of the species possess nutritionally valuable amount of fibre
- These are known to contain significant amount of the water soluble vitamins ( thiamine, riboflavin , niacin and ascorbic acid ) , as well as minerals.
Amongst edible mushrooms, Agaricus campestris ,Flammulina mellae, F. odilpis etc. are known to have antibacterial actions against Staphyllococcus aureus, Salmoniella typhii and Escherchia coli. The terpinoides namely, Illudin –M and Illudin –S extacted from Clitocybe illudens are very effective against Plasmodium gallinaceum .
Grouping of medicinal mushrooms:
- Based upon their utility and availability conditions, mushrooms can be rouped into following three different forms :
- Nutraceuticals
- Nutriceuticals and
- Pharmaceuticals
a) Nutraceuticals:
- The term nutraceutical refers to functional foods that are consumed as a part of the normal diet. Mushrooms have nutritional values and health benefits, hence they can be referred to as nutraceuticals.
b) Nutriceuticals:
- The term mushroom nutriceutical is used for a new class of compounds that have been extracted from either the mushroom or the vegetative mycelium of mushroom species. Nutriceuticals have medicinal as well as nutritional attributes. It has been found that metabolites from the nutriceuticals may exhibit such features as anti-tumour, immunomodulating and hypocholesterolemic properties.
- The compounds involved in Ganoderma are triterpinoides and polysaccharides.With nutriceuticals as with nutraceuticalsals, there is little chance of toxicity effects since the nutriceuticals are derived from edible mushrooms. Beneficial treatment of diseases can be obtained by consumption of mushrooms as a functional food or the use of extracted biologically active compounds as a dietery supplement in order to enhance the immune response of the human body, thereby increasing resistance against diseases and causing regression of a diseased state.
c) Pharmaceuticals:
- When a chemically defined preparation with medicinal properties is obtained from a natural product such as mushroom, this can be referred to as a Pharmaceutical.The pharmaceuticals prescribed by the physicians as a therapeutic treatment for a specific medical may be administered in a variety of ways e.g. orally, by inhalation , topically or by injection.
|
Participants