From nutraceutical to clinical trial: frontiers in Ganoderma development

Abstract

Ganoderma spp. are medical mushrooms with various pharmacological compounds which are regarded as a nutraceutical for improving health and treating diseases. This review summarizes current progress in the studies of Gamoderma ranging from bioactive metabolites, bioactivities, production techniques to clinical trials. Traditionally, polysaccharides and ganoderic acids have been reported as the major bioactive metabolites of Ganoderma possessing anti-tumor and immunomodulation functions. Moreover, recent studies indicate that Gandoerma also exerts other bioactivities such as skin lighting, gut microbiota regulation, and anti-virus effects. However, since these medical fungi are rare in natural environment, and that the cost of cultivation of fruiting bodies is high, industrial submerged fermentation of Ganoderma mycelia promotes the development of Ganoderma by dint of an increase of biomass and bioactive metabolites used for further application. In addition, various strategies for production of different metabolites are well developed, such as gene regulation, bi-stage pH, and oxygen control. To date, Ganoderma not only has become one of the most popular nutraceuticals worldwide but also has been applied to clinical trials for advanced diseases such as breast and non-small-cell lung cancer.

Dual sgRNA‐directed gene deletion in basidiomycete Ganoderma lucidum using the CRISPR/Cas9 system

“…Medicinal mushrooms are rich sources of pharmacologically active compounds (Chaturvedi et al , ). Ganoderma lucidum , a traditional medicinal mushroom, has been used to improve health and longevity in China for several millennia (Hsu and Cheng, ). These mushrooms exhibit several therapeutic activities, such as antitumor, immunomodulatory and antihypertensive activities (Russell and Paterson, ).…”

Increased production of ganoderic acids by overexpression of homologous farnesyl diphosphate synthase and kinetic modeling of ganoderic acid production in Ganoderma lucidum

“…Mushrooms are rich sources of biologically active compounds and cosmetic ingredients [1, 2]. Ganoderma lucidum , a traditional medicinal mushroom, has been used to treat and prevent various diseases for two millennia in Asian countries [3, 4]. The market size of Ganoderma products is estimated to be worth over US $2.5 billion (Bishop et al [5]).…”

Unusual constituents from the medicinal mushroomGanoderma lingzhi

“…In summary, chemical investigation on the edible and medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lingzhi afforded six new gymnomitrane-type sesquiterpenoids (1-6), an unusual sesquiterpenoid (8), and a new polyketide (7) as well as a known steroid (9). The absolute congurations of the isolates were unambiguously determined via single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, and ECD calculation.…”

“…8 All these efforts have illuminated and enriched the chemical prole of Ganoderma secondary metabolites, which has made it possible for Ganoderma to be developed as a regular drug rather than as a dietary supplement. 9,10 Sesquiterpenoids are the most abundant type of secondary metabolites in mushrooms. 11 However, in contrast to the attention that has been paid on the triterpenes, research on sesquiterpenes from Ganoderma fruiting bodies is still unfolding.…”