Comparative Analysis of Triterpene Composition between Ganoderma lingzhi from China and G. lucidum from Slovakia under Different Growing Conditions.

The mushroom today known as Ganoderma lingzhi has been used for centuries in the countries of Eastern Asia as a very important medicinal mushroom. It prefers growing on rotten wood of broadleaf trees and is mainly distributed in the tropics and subtropics. Its relative G. lucidum occurs naturally almost all the Earth, and it colonizes mostly oak and beech trees in Central Europe. G. lingzhi and G. lucidum are similar species. To obtain the qualitative parameters of G. lingzhi and G. lucidum, several strains (five G. lingzhi strains and five G. lucidum ones) were chosen and cultivated in both Slovakia and China, using wood chip (beech and oak) substrate and liquid fermentation method, respectively. It was found that there were more low-polarity triterpenes in G. lucidum, while G. lingzhi contained more high-polarity triterpenes. Beech substrate was more suitable for the accumulation of triterpenes in solid cultivation for both strains of G. lucidum and G. lingzhi. Strain C4 of G. lingzhi and strain K2 of G. lucidum contained higher triterpenes in either mycelium or fruiting bodies. Data in this study can help to identify these two species and bring a great benefit to the production of bioactive compounds of G. lucidum from Slovakia.

Fruiting Body Production of, and Suitable Environmental Ranges for, Growing the Umbrella Polypore Medicinal Mushroom, Polyporus umbellatus (Agaricomycetes), in Natural Conditions in Central Europe.

This article presents the ecological distribution of the edible and medicinal mushroom Polyporus umbellatus in Central Europe. Our main motivation is to describe the potential for commercial cultivation of this species. All data considered in this study are based on records from 70 localities in Slovakia. Fruiting bodies and sclerotia have been recorded in forests in which beech, hornbeam, and oak dominate, at altitudes ranging from 150 to 935 m (mean altitude, 403 m). In Slovakia, these areas correspond to warm, hilly, and upland beech-oak and oak-beech forests. Mean annual air temperature between 6°C and 9°C characterizes about 94% of the areas. Continuous monitoring of fruiting body production at 13 plots showed peak growth in August. In total, 192 fruiting bodies were recorded over a 5-year period. P. umbellatus predominantly grows in acidic soils (pH 4.5-4.99), with no individuals found in soils with pH above 7.0. Our findings can be used for growing the fungus and expanding its growth to new regions, not only in Central Europe.

Antioxidant Activity and Infrared Spectroscopy Analysis of Alcoholic Extracts Obtained from Paecilomyces hepiali (Ascomycetes).

This research studies the influence of substrate on the antioxidant activity of alcohol extracts of Paecilomyces hepiali. We used corn, rice, millet, and peas as substrates. Antioxidant activity was measured with the DPPH radical scavenging method. Concentrations of extracts (6.25, 3.12, 1.56, 0.78, and 0.39 mg/mL) were applied in all evaluations. Overall antioxidant activity was expressed as the concentration of substrate that decreased DPPH radical levels by 50% (IC50DPPH) for 7 methanol and 7 ethanol extracts. A comparison of IC50DPPH allowed us to conclude that the methanol extracts are more active in scavenging stable DPPH radicals than are the ethanol extracts. The substrate with antioxidant properties most suitable for cultivation of P. hepiali was rice supplemented with non-defatted soy flour. The extract most effective in scavenging stable radicals was the methanol extract of sample 4 (IC50DPPH = 2.33 mg/mL) cultivated on rice with nondefatted soy flour. The methanol extract of sample 7 cultivated on peas was less effective (IC50DPPH = 11.50 mg/mL). By crystallizing these extracts, we managed to obtain sufficient quantities of 6 samples in a solid state, for which infrared spectra were measured and confirmed the presence of amino acids in the extracts.

NMR and IR analysis of natural substances isolated from Cordyceps medicinal mushrooms.

There exist about 750 species of Cordyceps at present. A high price of natural Cordyceps and its lack in nature caused that the attention has been focused to its cultivation in laboratory conditions. The demand for this “fungus-parasite” is still quite high nowadays, as shown by the amount of commercial nutritional supplements. Phytochemical diversity has ensured that Cordyceps is used as an immunomodulatory and an antioxidant; it has anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, antibacterial, anti-HIV effects. In the present study we focused on NMR and IR analyses of natural substances isolated from two species of Cordyceps: Cordyceps sinensis MFTCCB025/0216, MFTCCB026/0216 and Paecilomyces hepiali MFTCCB023/0216. Two types of rice substrates (Oryza sativa Indica and Oryza sativa Japonica) were used for cultivation. A total of five methanol extracts obtained by a reflux method of the ground mushroom were analysed. To determine the quality and quantity of the major chemical compounds, 1D and 2D NMR analysis has been used with 1H, 13C, COSY, NOESY, HSQC, HMBC and DEPT spectra. IR spectroscopy was chosen as a complementary analysis to determine functional groups. Linoleic acid, oleic acid and mannitol were identified as major compounds of the methanol extracts. Tyrosine, alanine, urea and the others biologically interesting substances were found as minor components.

Free-Radical Scavenging Activities of Cultured Mycelia of Paecilomyces hepiali (Ascomycetes) Extracts and Structural Characterization of Bioactive Components by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.

Current research is focused on testing the cultivation of Paecilomyces hepiali mycelia on various plant substrates and producing fungus or mycelial biomass with qualitatively interesting substances. P. hepiali mycelia was cultivated using solid-state fermentation of different substrates. Mycelial biomass was then analyzed, and antioxidant activity was evaluated using the DPPH radical scavenging method for different ethanolic extracts based on a millet substrate (extract 1) or a chickpea substrate (extract 2). Extract 1 corresponds to a half-maximal DPPH radical inhibitory concentration of 1.73 mg/mL; the inhibitory concentration of ethanol extract 2 was almost 4.5 times higher at 7.92 mg/mL. Extracts 1 and 2 were separated into fractions by column chromatography and the chemical structures were determined for the substances that formed the most effective fraction of sample 1. The chemical structures of all compounds in the most active fraction of sample 1 were analyzed by 1H, 13C, distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer, correlation spectroscopy, heteronuclear single-quantum correlation spectroscopy, and heteronuclear multiple-bond correlation spectra.