Novel Kombucha Beverage from Lingzhi or Reishi Medicinal Mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum, with Antibacterial and Antioxidant Effects

Abstract

Kombucha is a nonalcoholic beverage traditionally made by fermenting black tea using a combination of yeast and acetic acid bacteria (AAB) cultures. Ganoderma lucidum hot water extract (HWE) was used-to our knowledge for the first time-to prepare a novel, health-promoting kombucha product. During the 11-day fermentation, pH, total acidity, and the numbers of yeasts and AAB were monitored. It was found that sweetened G. lucidum HWE was a good medium for yeast and AAB growth. The desired acidity for the beverage was reached on the second day (3 g/L) of the fermentation process; the maximum established acidity was 22.8 ± 0.42 g/L. Fourier transform infrared analysis revealed that the vacuum-dried beverage is a mixture of various compounds such as polysaccharides, phenols, proteins, and lipids. Total phenolic content of the liquid sample was 4.91 ± 0.2338 mg gallic acid equivalents/g, whereas the vacuum-dried sample had a smaller amount of phenolics (2.107 ± 0.228 mg gallic acid equivalents/g). Established half-maximal effective concentrations for DPPH scavenging activity and reducing power were 22.8 ± 0.17 and 10.61 ± 0.34 mg/mL, respectively. The antibacterial testing revealed that activity does not originate solely from synthesized acetic acid. The liquid G. lucidum beverage was the most effective against the tested bacteria, with the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration (0.04 mg/mL) against Staphylococcus epidermidis and Rhodococcus equi, and a minimum bactericidal concentration (0.16 mg/mL) against Bacillus spizizenii, B. cereus, and R. equi. The vacuum-dried sample was less effective, with the lowest minimum bactericidal concentration against the Gram-positive bacteria R. equi (1.875 mg/mL) and against the Gram-negative bacteria Proteus hauseri (30 mg/mL).

Macrofungi: A review of cultivation strategies, bioactivity, and application of mushrooms

“…In practice, however, there are comparatively few studies on the development of innovative macrofungus-based foods. Macrofungi are used in the production of kombucha (Sknepnek et al, 2018), beer (Leskosek-Cukalovic et al, 2010), and health wine.…”

“…As macrofungi are rich in umami components, they have appealing flavors and are ideal food flavoring agents. Nonvolatile and volatile compounds in shiitake extract could enhance cooked minced meat flavor (Sknepnek et al, 2018). The phenolic compounds in macrofungi have strong antioxidant and bacteriostatic activity and could, therefore, be applied in the food industry as natural antioxidants and antimicrobial agents (Bach et al, 2019).…”

Connection of Ganoderma Lucidum with Health

“…31 These phenolic compounds are important antioxidants. 31,32 The major flavonoids with active antioxidant activity in ethanol extracts from G. lucidum were quercetin, myricetin and morin. 33 Recent studies have emphasized the importance of phenolic compounds as well as other bioactive components.…”

Use of Medicinal Mushrooms in Layer Ration

“…The extracts derived from medicinal Pleurotus species mushroom have been reported to have potential antibacterial and antifungal functions [37,38]. An invitro experiment was conducted by Sknepnek et al [39] with reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) on antimicrobial functions. Their studies concluded that the liquid Ganoderma lucidum mushroom beverage at a 0.04 mg/mL concentration was very useful against Staphylococcus epidermidis and Rhodococcus equi.…”