Chemical Composition and Medicinal Value of Fruiting Bodies and Submerged Cultured Mycelia of Caterpillar Medicinal Fungus Cordyceps militaris CBS-132098 (Ascomycetes).

In this paper, we report the results of a proximate analysis (i.e., moisture, ash, protein, fat, carbohydrates, and energy); a bioactive compounds analysis (i.e., cordycepin and ergothioneine); fatty and amino acid analysis; and analyses of vitamin content, macro- and microelement composition of fruiting body (FB), and mycelial biomass (MB) of medicinal caterpillar fungus Cordyceps militaris strain CBS-132098. These results demonstrate that the FB and MB of C. militaris are good sources of proteins: 59.8% protein content in the FB and 39.5% in the MB. The MB was distinguished by its carbohydrate content (39.6%), which was higher than that of the FB (29.1% carbohydrate). In the FB of C. militaris, the total amino acid content was 57.39 mg/g and in the MB it was 24.98 mg/g. The quantification of the identified fatty acids indicated that palmitic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid were the major fatty acids. The micro- and macroelement compositions were studied. The highest results were calcium (797 mg/kg FB; 11 mg/kg MB); potassium (15,938 mg/kg FB 12,183 mg/kg MB); magnesium (4,227 mg/kg FB; 3,414 mg/kg MB); sodium (171 mg/kg FB; 1,567 mg/kg MB); phosphorus (7,196 mg/kg FB; 14,293 mg/kg MB); and sulfur (5,088 mg/kg FB; 2,558 mg/kg MB). The vitamin composition was studied, and the most abundant vitamins were vitamin A, vitamin B3, and vitamin E. The bioactive components were cordycepin, cordycepic acid (D-mannitol), and ergothioneine. There were differences in cordycepin and ergothioneine contents between the FB and the MB. The cordycepin concentration was 0.11% in the FB and 0.182% in the MB, the cordycepic acid was 4.7 mg/100g in the FB and 5.2 mg/100 g in the MB, and the ergothioneine content was 782.37 mg/kg in the FB and 130.65 mg/kg in the MB. The nutritional values of the FB and the MB of C. militaris detected indicate its potential use in well-balanced diets and sources of bioactive compounds.

Chemical Composition and Medicinal Value of the New Ganoderma tsugae var. jannieae CBS-120304 Medicinal Higher Basidiomycete Mushroom.

In this research, the chemical composition and anticancer and antioxidant activity of the new medicinal mushroom Ganoderma tsugae var. jannieae CBS-120304 were evaluated. The chemical composition assay includes amounts of total carbohydrates and proteins, amino acids, fatty acids, micro- and macroelements, and vitamins. The investigated medicinal mushroom seemed to be a rich source of nutritional components. Mycelium accumulated more than 2-fold more total protein compared with the fruiting body and reached 37% and 16% of dry weight, respectively. Carbohydrate content in the fruiting body seemed to be conspicuously higher than in the mycelium (50% of dry weight) and reached 80% of dry weight. Quantification of the identified fatty acids indicated that, in general, palmitic acid, oleic acid, and linoleic acid were the major fatty acids. Toxic elements, such as silver, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury, were found only in trace amounts in mycelium and were not detected in the fruiting body. Furthermore, the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging assay was used to evaluate antioxidant activity. The highest radical scavenging activity was 9.0 mg/mL (65.9%) by ethanol extract. In addition, mycelial extracts were tested to inhibit MCF7 breast cancer cells. Ganoderma tsugae var. jannieae ethyl acetate extract (GTEAE) extract showed high potential by inhibiting reporter activity by more than 70%. Results demonstrated that GTEAE had a strong effect on inhibitory protein κΒα level in the higher concentration used (200 gg/mL), which could be compared with the effect of parthenolide. Furthermore, GTEAE demonstrated strong inhibition of IκΒα phosphorylation.