Comparative Studies on Polysaccharides, Triterpenoids, and Essential Oil from Fermented Mycelia and Cultivated Sclerotium of a Medicinal and Edible Mushroom, Poria Cocos

Abstract

Poria cocos, an important medicinal and edible fungus, is well known in East Asia. The main active components are water-soluble polysaccharides (WPS) and triterpenoids. Due to the growing market demand, long cultivation period, and consumption of pine trunk during cultivation, alternative methods for producing P. cocos or its active components should be investigated. In this study, WPS, triterpenoids, monosaccharide composition, and essential oil in fermented mycelia and cultivated sclerotium were analyzed using UV spectrophotometry, HPLC, pre-column derivatization, and HS-GC/MS, respectively. Our results showed that the WPS and triterpenoids in mycelia are several times higher than those in sclerotium. Among the 62 compounds identified by HS-GC/MS analysis from the essential oil obtained from the fermentation media and a fresh external layer, the two main fragrances in common were linalool and methyl phenylacetate. Our results suggested that it is applicable to produce polysaccharides and triterpenoids by the fermentation of P. cocos, and a strategy to improve triterpenoid production in the fermentation process was proposed.Molecules 2020, 25, 1269 2 of 12 by 11.5-18.5% and enhance the antioxidant enzyme activity when fed for 7 weeks at the daily dose of 100-200 mg/Kg in liver cancae male Wistar rats [12]. Recently, APS was reported to improve hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and hepatic steatosis in ob/ob mice via the modulation of gut microbiota [13]. Exopolysaccharides (EPS), another kind of water-soluble polysaccharide, is produced in the media during the liquid fermentation of P. cocos, and it has also been reported to have anti-tumor activity both in vivo (Sarcoma-180 solid tumors implanted in BALB/c mice, a immune deficient inbred mice line) and in vitro (HL-60 tumor cells) [6] as well as antioxidant activities [14]. Triterpenoids are reported to be responsible for the diuretic [15], anti-tumor [16], and anti-inflammatory activities [8] of P. cocos. More than 50 triterpenoids have been purified from P. cocos, derived from lanostane or secolanostane skeletons [17]. A more systematic introduction about the chemistry and pharmacology activity of P.cocos has been reviewed [17]. The main constituents are dehydrotumulosic acid (DTA), 3-epi-dehydrotumulosic acid (eDTA), and polyporenic acid C (PAC) [18].As a consequence of its nutritional and health values, P. cocos has gained wide popularity as a nutraceutical and functional food in China. Normally, P. cocos grows underground around the roots or dried trunks of pine trees and needs a long cultivation period of about 7 months. In recent decades, the fermentation culture of P. cocos has been developed because of the potential for the increased production of mycelia and bioactive components in a compact space and in a shorter period of time. Many studies have been conducted to examine the influence of different conditions on P. cocos culture, including medium composition, temperature, and environmental conditions [19][20][21]. The liquid culture of P. cocos has been...

Wild Strawberry-like Flavor Produced by the Fungus Wolfiporia cocos─Identification of Character Impact Compounds by Aroma Dilution Analysis after Dynamic Headspace Extraction

“…The biosynthesis of linalool and geraniol by W. cocos has been described previously for cultures grown on green tea, carrot peels, wine press cake, and potato dextrose broth supplemented with vitamin B 1 and corn liquor. , …”

“…The biosynthesis of linalool and geraniol by W. cocos has been described previously for cultures grown on green tea, carrot peels, wine press cake, and potato dextrose broth supplemented with vitamin B 1 and corn liquor. 30,36 Methyl anthranilate is known to exclusively occur in wild strawberries and not in cultivated ones. 16 As it has an odor impression that is highly reminiscent of wild strawberries and it has the highest FD factor, it has a major impact on the overall aroma.…”

Biosynthesis and regulation of terpenoids from basidiomycetes: exploration of new research

“…For thousands of years, many basidiomycetes, such as Lentinus edodes , Auricularia auricula and Hericium erinaceus , have been used as food (Lei et al 2019 ; Zhao et al 2020 ; Miao et al 2020 ; Hu et al 2020 ). Additionally, certain fungi, such as Ganoderma lucidum and Poria cocos (Lin et al 2020 ; Wang et al 2020a , b , c ), have been used as medicinal plants. Basidiomycetes, particularly their sporocarps, contain abundant natural products (Tian et al 2020 ).…”

“…Compared with the 9-day hyphal control, the expression in the 11- and 13-day hyphal groups was upregulated by 49.3 times and 125.4 times, respectively. Through analysis, the triterpene content of S. baumii was found to be significantly correlated with the expression level of FPS at different developmental stages (Wang et al 2020a , b , c ). The results of this experiment showed that FPS genes are involved in regulating the biosynthesis of triterpenoids.…”

“…G. lucidum is the fungus with the most triterpenoids, and more than 250 triterpenoid compounds have been identified from this species. However, compared with plants, we know relatively little regarding the biosynthesis of triterpenoid compounds in basidiomycetes (Wang et al 2020a , b , c ). It has been determined that the primary terpene component in G. lucidum is ganoderic acid (GA) (Shao et al 2020 ; Liang et al 2019 ), and more than 170 types of GA have been isolated from G. lucidum (Wang et al 2021 ).…”