ITEMS

modern scholarly publishers in the finest tradition

Journals

	Search

International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms

ISSN for PRINT: 1521-9437

Institutional price:	$538.00
Issues per year:	4

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2007, Volume9

98 pages

DOI: 10.1615/IntJMedMushr.v9.i2

Issue price - $149.00

Grifola frondosa (Dicks.: Fr.) S.F. Gray (Maitake Mushroom): Medicinal Properties, Active Compounds, and Biotechnological Cultivation

Bojana Boh
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Marin Berovic
Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana; and National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana, Slovenia

ABSTRACT

Grifola frondosa, also known as Maitake mushroom, is a lignin- and cellulose-degrading basidiomycete with excellent nutritional and medicinal properties. This article presents a state-of-the-art review of G. frondosa active compounds belonging to the group of polysaccharides (1-6-β-D-glucans and 1-3-β-D-glucans), glycoproteins, proteins, and low-molecular-weight compounds. Medicinal effects and modes of action are presented in detail, including anticancer activity, immunostimulation, effects on angiogenesis, reduction of benign prostatic hyperplasia, antibacterial and antiviral effects, effects on lipid metabolism and hypertension, antidiabetic activity, vitality and performance enhancement, antioxidant effects, and beneficial cosmetic effects on skin. Possibilities for cultivation of G. frondosa fruit bodies and mycelium biomass are listed, with emphasis on biotechnological cultivation of mycelia in bioreactors by submerged cultivation in liquid media for the production of intra- and extracellular polysaccharides.