Studies of Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activity in Ready-to-Drink Wild Ganoderma Teas: An In Vitro Approach.

Ganoderma is a medicinally important mushroom and has been used since ancient times. However, mostly G. lucidum has been used for therapeutic purposes, in form of tea, dietary and drug supplements but other species of Ganoderma are still remaining underexploited. This study is the first approach to valorize Ganoderma teas prepared from different wild species of Ganoderma other than G. lucidum with respect to both phytochemically and therapeutically through investigation of their phytochemical, carbohydrate contents and exploring their antioxidant activity. Phytochemical contents such as phenol and flavonoids were quantified using spectrophotometry methods. The carbohydrate content of the teas was estimated by phenol sulphuric acid method. The biochemical analysis revealed the teas contained a notable amount of phenolic compounds ranging from 19.15 to 40.2 µg GAE/mg of extract and also showed significant content of flavonoids. Further, antioxidant potential in terms of DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging ability and total antioxidant capacity was also evaluated. According to the results, G. resinaceum tea showed better potential in scavenging DPPH (EC50 36 ug/mL) and ABTS radicals (EC50 3 9 ug/mL) whereas the least effect was shown for the tea of G. ahmedi. Therefore, tea showing the best results, i.e. G. resinaceum tea, was also analyzed for cytotoxicity on breast cancer cells. It was found that the tea made from G. resinaceum inhibited cellular growth and proliferation in a dose-dependent manner with maximum growth inhibition (61%) observed at the highest concentration of 2.3 mg/mL. The presence of a greater quantity of carbohydrates in G. resinaceum tea also justified the remarkable anticancer potential of the tea. Overall, our findings indicated that a few wild species of Ganoderma other than G. lucidum have great potential to be valued as a healthy beverage with immense therapeutic benefits.

Bioactivity Profiling of Infusion, Decoction, and Hydroalcoholic Fraction Obtained from Wild Golden Chanterelle Mushroom, Cantharellus cibarius (Agaricomycetes).

Cantharellus cibarius Fr. is one of the most desirable, popularly known wild edible mushrooms of the genus Cantharellus. Besides having nutritional benefits, this mushroom is reported to harbor significant medicinal potential. In present study, we describe for the first-time bioactive metabolites content and medicinal activities of three different types of extracts including infusion, decoction, and hydroalcoholic fraction from wild Cantharellus cibarius of West Bengal. Bioactive metabolites quantification revealed the phenol and flavonoids present in the range between 0.56-1.46 mg of GAE/g of dried fruit bodies and 0.12-0.29 mg of QE/g of dried fruit bodies, respectively, whereas ascorbic acid contents were also found. Antioxidant activity was assessed using six in vitro systems; decoction displayed better results in all investigated assays with EC50 values ranging between 0.05 and 0.34 mg/ml whereas hydroalcoholic extract showed highest total antioxidant capacity (18 ± 1.61 µg AAE per mg of extract) than other extracts. Moreover, infusion and decoction were found to scavenge highly reactive free radicals like hydroxyl and nitric oxide with their EC50 values ranging between 0.26 and 0.91 mg/ml. Additionally, anti-inflammatory potential of the extracts was evaluated using protein denaturation assay. Hydroalcoholic extract at a concentration range of 0.005-0.1 mg/ml showed comparatively better activity than decoction and infusion, although all the extracts presented dose dependent inhibition of heat induced protein denaturation. Altogether, the present investigation is expected to extend the existing knowledge of this species and recommended its use in pharmaceutical industries as an effective mycomedicine.

Milky mushroom: A healthy nutritious diet.

Milky mushroom includes a group of macrofungi traditionally known for nutritional and medicinal properties. They are among the easiest and cheapest cultivable mushrooms in tropical regions. Thus, interest in this group of mushrooms has grown both commercially and medicinally over the years. This review critically discusses different aspects of milky mushroom based on their nutritive values and biological activities and also envisages the challenges which need holistic approaches to formulate functional compounds from these mushrooms. In the last 30 years, various health-promoting properties, as well as domestication techniques of milky mushrooms, have been documented by scientific forums. Besides, several bioactive compounds have been purified among which only a few have been studied in brief. Some unique activities also have been observed like fibrinolytic activity, synergism with standard antibiotics, antiobesity effects, antiaging, and others; however, the study on its active components and structure-activity relationship is an important requirement. An integrated approach from both the nutritional and medical field needs to be adopted for proper utilization of this mushroom as functional food, thus this review will contribute greatly to fill the lacuna in knowledge and unleashing the significance of these milky mushroom; Calocybe indica, Macrocybe gigantea, Macrocybe crassa and Macrocybe lobayensis in the pharmaceutical field.

Mycochemical Profiling and Antioxidant Activity of Two Different Tea Preparations from Lion's Mane Medicinal Mushroom, Hericium erinaceus (Agaricomycetes).

Mushrooms have become the new superfood with their many bioactive metabolites and are potential candidates in the field of herbal medicine. Since not all mushrooms can be consumed whole, their active constituents and therapeutic benefits can be had in the form of beverages specially teas or coffees. In the present study, two forms of teas, infusion and decoction, were prepared from Hericium erinaceus (Bull.) Pers., a very popular mushroom in Chinese medicine. Both forms of tea were studied mycochemically and medicinally and a comparative view was presented on the basis of the findings. The tea preparations were rich in bioactive mycochemicals; interestingly, the infusion contained a higher amount of phenol (1.72 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of dry weight of mushrooms) than decoction (0.28 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of dry weight of mushrooms). Lycopene and ß-carotene were found in very minute amounts. Both infusion and decoction exhibited good free radical scavenging potential, reducing power, and total antioxidant properties. However, the infusion fraction produced overall better results than the decoction fraction. Finally, the results suggest that H. erinaceus is a potent source of natural antioxidant and also can be consumed as a beverage.

Prospecting medicinal properties of Lion's mane mushroom.

Hericium erinaceus (Bull.) Persoon, a popular medicinal edible mushroom, owns a long history of usage in traditional Chinese medicine and also in other oriental countries. Along with this, its several bioactive compounds have been evolved into food supplements. Meanwhile, this present investigation aimed at extracting bioactive components from fruiting bodies of H. erinaceus using two different solvents and evaluating its in vitro antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiproliferative efficacy. Chemical analysis showed extracts were rich in phenol, flavonoids, and ascorbic acids while lesser amount of carotenoids were also detected in these extracts. Both extracts were able to scavenge 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (~76%) and 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonate) radicals (~81%) and also showed chelating activity (~73.05%). The ethanolic extract exhibited the highest antioxidant activity (total antioxidant capacity 2.17 µg ascorbic acid equivalent/mg of extract) whereas methanolic extract showed moderate capacity (total antioxidant capacity 1.42 µg ascorbic acid equivalent/mg of extract). All extracts displayed antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well (minimum inhibition concentration 1,575-2,750 µg/ml) although methanolic extract showed some selectivity towards bacterial strains. Apart from these, ethanolic fraction has found to exhibit potent cytotoxicity (IC50 403.12 µg/ml) towards lung adenocarcinoma cells. These studies thus provide the reference data that could support this mushroom as an easily accessible source of natural bioactive components. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Mushroom extracts have long been traditionally used as miracle medicine to treat an extensive range of ailments. These findings indicate the potential benefits of the Hericium erinaceus (Bull.) Persoon extracts for the development of multi-target therapeutics as well as extraction with appropriate solvents also provide leads for the isolation of various principle compounds. The extracts thus could be used to treat oxidative stress-related disorders as they are found to contain antioxidant compounds like phenols and others and also they possessed good antimicrobial and anticancer activity.

Modified tamarind kernel polysaccharide: a novel matrix for control release of aspirin.

pH dependent hydrogels of modified tamarind kernel polysaccharide (TKP) were synthesized by grafting with polyacrylamide chains on TKP backbone in presence of microwave irradiation and initiator. The present study is carried out to design oral controlled drug delivery systems for aspirin using synthesized hydrogels as carrier in form of tablets. TKP-g-PAM based hydrogels show significant enhancement for control release of aspirin. Release behavior of aspirin has been evaluated using USP type I apparatus in 900 mL of buffer solutions (pH 1.2, 6.8, 7.4), maintained at 37°C at 100 rpm. It is observed that with increase in percentage of grafting (% G), swelling of matrices increases whereas erosion and rate of drug release decrease. The effect of % G onto t50 value (time taken for release of 50% drug) has also been discussed. The release characteristics from the matrices under study show non-Fickian diffusion mechanism, suggesting the controlled release of aspirin.