Archive for May, 2008

Pholiota adiposa

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

The medicinal mushroom Pholiota adiposa
The fat pholiota, Pholiota adiposa (Batsch) P. Kumm.
   Credit: Darius Baužys
   Source: Wikimedia Commons

Synonyms

Agaricus adiposus Batsch,
  Elench. fung. cont. prim. (Halle): 147 (1786)
Dryophila adiposa (Batsch) Quél.
  Enchir. fung. (Paris): 68 (1886)
Hypodendrum adiposum (Batsch) Overh.
  (1932)

Common names

Fat pholiota
Numerisugitake (Japanese)
Slijmsteelbundelzwan (Dutch)

Description

Cap: 4-10 cm diameter, hemispherical with involute margin when young, expanding to convex, finally flattened with deflexed margin, with or without blunt umbo, not hygrophanous, not transculently striate, yellow-brown, with yellow to sulphur yellow marginal zone, entirely covered with apressed to uplifted, reddish to blackish brown, gelatinous squamules, particularly at center, in moist condition usually strongly slimy to glutinous, but slime easily washed off in rainy weather; when young with large velar flocks, especially at margin.
Gills: moderately crowded to crowded, broadly adnate, sometimes emarginate or with decurrent tooth, thin, subventricose, up to 10 mm broad, pale lemon-yellow at first, through ochre-brown to reddish brown with slight olivaceous tinge, with entire, concolorous edge.
The underside of Pholiota adiposa, showing the gills
The adnate gills of P. adiposa.
  Credit: Douglas Smith
  Source: Mushroom Observer, licensed by NCSA3.0

Stem: 2-5 cm long x 0.5-1.0 cm diameter, centrally or slightly eccentrically inserted, tapering towards common base, solid then fistullose, when young with well-developed, thick, fibrillose-floccose annulus, above annulus pale yellow, orange to reddish brown below, glabrous above annulus, squamulose with dark reddish to blackish brown, gelatinous squamules below, glabrous above annulus.
Taste: mild
Odor: indistinct, according to Bas et al. However, some older research has suggested that odor may be used as a defining characteristic for this species (Badcock, 1939).
Spore print: dark reddish brown.
Spores: 5-6.5 x 3-4 µm, smooth, ellipsoid, nonamyloid, amygdaliform. Further details on spore characteristics may be found in Batko (1946).
Habitat: found on living and dead stems of Fagus sylvatica, usually low on the stem or on roots and trunks; late summer to autumn; infrequent or rare.
Edibility: inedible.

Description adapted largely from Bas et al., pg. 84-5

Biochemistry

Methanol extracts of P. adiposa fruit bodies were shown to inhibit the enzyme β-hydroxy-β-methyl glutaryl coenzyme a reductase (HMG-CoA reductase), a rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol biosynthesis, by 55.8%. Solvent extraction and column chromatography were used to obtain a purified product, identified as stigmasterol, that had an IC50 of 6.8 µg (Yu et al., 2007).

Nutritional composition

The nutritive value of protein from the fruitbodies and the cultured mycelia of P. adiposa has been evaluated (Hui et al., 2004). Proteins from cultured mycelia had a higher nutritive value than from the fruitbodies, based on the following quantitative characteristics of protein quality:

  • amino acid score 82.86
  • chemical score 54.96
  • essential amino acid index 92.73
  • biological value 89.38
  • nutritional index 35.42
  • score of ratio coefficient of amino acid 87.24

The authors conclude that the submerged cultivated mycelium of P. adiposa could be considered a good source of protein.

Bioactive compounds

Spiroaxanes are sesquiterpenes with a spiro[1,5]decane ring system; the canonical spiroaxane is shown below.  These compounds have been isolated from a variety of marine sponges. Recently, a novel spiroaxane (15-hydroxy-6α,12-epoxy-7β, 10α H,11βH-spiroax-4-ene) was isolated from the culture broth of  P. adiposa (Liu et al., 2008).

The sesquiterpene spiroaxane
Spiroaxane

A variety of compounds have been isolated and purified from P. adiposa using column chromatography and and variety of spectroscopic techniques, including:

  • 1-linoleic-2-olefin
  • stigmasterol
  • 1,4-glucopyranosyl-1',4'-glucopyranosyl-1",4"-glucopyranoside
  • 2',3'-diphosphoryl-1'-propanoxy-β-D-glucopyranoside
  • 1-linoleic-3-olein
  • 1-(N,N,N-trimethyl ethyl amino phosphoryl)-2,3-dilinolein ion
  • glyceryl phosphate

Both 1-linoleic-2-olefin and stigmasterol were shown to have weak cytotoxicity against P388 murine leukemia cells (Chung et al., 2005).

Medicinal properties

Antitumor effects

Polysaccharides extracted from the mycelial culture of P. adiposa and administered intraperitoneally into white mice at a dosage of 300 mg/kg inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers by 70% and 60%, respectively (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).

The antitumor potential of P. adiposa was later corroborated in a Korean study using an antitumor screening test involving Sarcoma 180 cells transplanted into mice. Mice which were injected with a million Sarcoma 180 cells, and then one day later injected with the alcohol-precipitated polysaccharides from a hot-water extract of the fat Pholiota (at a dose of 20 mg/kg body weight per day for 10 days) had an inhibition ratio of 27.3%, compared to the mice that didn't get the mushroom extract (Chung et al., 1982). Furthermore, it has been shown that treatment of Sarcoma 180 tumor-bearing mice with P. adiposa polysaccharides resulted in decreased tumor weights, increased carbon particle clearance and phagocytic indices, and significantly higher serum levels of TNF-α and IL-2, compared with untreated controls. The authors suggest that the anti-tumor activity of P. adiposa polysaccharide is related to immune system enhancement (Zhao et al., 2007)

Antimicrobial effects

The 60% methanolic extract of Pholiota adiposa exhibited antimicrobial activity, shown by using both the disc-diffusion and broth dilution methods (Dulger et al., 2004). Specifically, the extract (at 25 mg/ml) inhibited the growth of Bacillus subtilis (17.0/7.0/1.25), Escherichia coli (19.0/28.2/0.625), Klebsiella pneumonia (11.8/22.4/5.0), Staphylococcus aureus (18.6/19.8/1.25), Streptococcus pyogenes (11.0/18.0/2.5), and Mycobacteria smegmatis (20.4/16.0/0.625); the three numbers in parentheses indicate the zone of inhibition (mm), the zone of inhibition of the control antibiotic Gentamicin at 2 mg/ml, and the minimum inhibitory concentration (mg/ml).

Antihypertensive effects

Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have shown utility in relieving or preventing hypertension.  P. adiposa was shown to inhibit angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) (Izawa et al., 2006).  Also, an ACE inhibitor, identified as a novel pentapeptide (amino acid sequence Gly-Glu-Gly-Gly-Pro) was isolated from the fruiting body of Pholiotoa adiposa. Maximal ACE inhibitory activity (IC50; 0.25 mg) was obtained with a protracted warm water extraction (30°C for 12h); after extensive purification, this activity increased to an IC50 of 0.044 mg (Koo et al., 2006).

Researchers used a combination of the herb Lycii fructus and P. adiposa to produce a traditional Korean rice wine with antihypertensive properties (Kim et al., 2006).  The addition of  1% L. fructus and 0.1% P. adiposa fruiting bodies into the mash prior to fermentation produced a wine which had an antihypertensive ACE inhibitory activity of 82%.

Antihyperlipidemia

Investigating the effect of a P. adiposa extract on fat mass in hyperlipidemic mice on a high-fat diet, one study concluded this mushroom may have potential for use as a functional food that can act as a prophylactic against hyperlipidemia. Although the extracts did not cause any significant change in the total triglyceride contents nor the epididymal fat mass, the retroperitoneal fat decreased significantly decreased in mice on the high-fat diet (Cho et al., 2006).  Excessive retroperitoneal fat mass is typical in males with upper-body obesity (Arner, 1997).

Web

This presentation from the fourth International Medicinal Mushroom Conference discusses the antioxidative properties of superoxide dismutase from P. adiposa.

References

Arner P.
Regional adipocity in man.
J Endocrinol. 1997 155:191-2
PDF online

Badcock EC.
Preliminary account of the odour of wood-destroying fungi in culture.
Trans. Brit. mycol. Soc. 1939 22(2):188-98.

Batko S.
Biometrical researches of secondary spores and a study of the mycelium of Pholiota adiposa Fr., P. heteroclita Fr., P. mutabilis (Schaeff.) FT., P. spectabilis Fr., and P. squarrosa (Mull.) Fr.
Trans. Brit, mycol. Soc. 1946 29(4):242-9.

Cho S-M, Lee Y-M, Lee D-H, Chun H-K, Lee J-S.
Effect of a Pholiota adiposa extract on fat mass in hyperlipidemic mice.
Mycobiology. 2006 34(4):236-9.

Chung IM, Kong WS, Lee OK, Park JS, Ahmad A.
Cytotoxic chemical constituents from the mushroom of Pholiota adiposa.
Food Sci Biotechnol. 2005 14(2):255-8.

Chung KS, Choi EC, Kim BK, Kim YS, Park YK.
The constituents and culture of Korean Basidiomycetes anti tumor poly saccharides from the cultured mycelia of some basidiomycetes.
Arch Pharm Res. 1982 5(1):17-20.

Dulger B.
Antimicrobial activity of the macrofungus Pholiota adiposa.
Fitoterapia. 2004 75(3-4):395-7.
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Hui F, Wei M, Ji S, Liu Z.
The nutritional assessment of submerged cultivated mycelium and fruit bodies proteins of Pholiota adiposa.
Mycosystema. 2004 23(2):270-4.

Izawa H, Aoyagi Y.
Inhibition of angiotensin converting enzyme by mushroom.
J Jap Soc Food Sci Technol. 2006 53(9):459-65.

Jiang H, Cai D.
Nutritional value evaluation of the protein of wild Pholiota adiposa in Mount Kunyu.
Jiangsu J Agric Sci. 2007 23(2):159-60.

Kim JH, Lee DH, Choi SY, Park JS, Lee JS.
Effects of Lycii fructus and edible mushroom, Pholiota adiposa, on the quality and angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitory activity of Korean traditional rice wine.
Food Biotechnol. 2006 20(2):183-91.

Koo KC, Lee DH, Kim JH, Yu HE, Park JS, Lee JS.
Production and characterization of antihypertensive angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitor from Pholiota adiposa.
J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2006 16(5):757-63.

Liu DZ, Jia RR, Wang F, Liu JK.
A new spiroaxane sesquiterpene from cultures of the basidiomycete Pholiota adiposa.
Z Naturforsch B. 2008 63:111-3.

Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.

Shimizu K, Fujita R, Kondo R, Sakai K, Kaneko S.
Morphological features and dietary functional components in fruit bodies of two strains of Pholiota adiposa grown on artificial beds.
J Wood Sci. 2003 49(2):193-6.

Swarts HJ, Teunissen PJM, Verhagen FJM, Field JA, Wijnberg J.
Chlorinated anisyl metabolites produced by basidiomycetes.
Mycol Res. 1997 101:372-4.

Yoshida H, Sasaki H, Fujimoto S, Sugahara T.
The chemical components in the vegetative mycelia of Basidiomycotina.
Nippon Kingakukai Kaiho. 1996 37(2):51-6.

Yu HE, Lee DH, Seo GS, Cho SM, Lee JS.
Characterization of a novel β-hydroxy-β-methyl glutaryl coenzyme a reductase-inhibitor from the mushroom, Pholiota adiposa.
Biotechnol Bioproc Eng. 2007 12:618-24.

Zhao Y, Li K, Zhang Y.
Anti-tumor function of polysaccharides from Pholiota adiposa mycelium.
Acta Edulis Fungi. 2007 14(2):49-54.

 
Last modified: 13-Aug-2008

Phylloporus rhodoxanthus

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

Top view of the medicinal mushroom Phylloporus rhodoxanthusunderside view of the medicinal mushroom Phylloporus rhodoxanthus
Two views of Phylloporus rhodoxanthus (Schwein.) Bres., the golden gilled bolete.
  Credits: Darvin DeShazer
  Source: Mushroom Observer

Synonyms

Agaricus rhodoxanthus Schwein.
  Syn. Fung. Carol. Sup.: 83 (1822)
Xerocomus rhodoxanthus (Schwein.) Bresinsky & Manfr. Binder
  Bresinsky & Besl, Regensb. Mykol. Schr. 11: 233 (2003)

Common name

Golden gilled bolete
Goldgills

Description

Cap: 3-8 cm diameter, initially convex, later planar; surface dry, velvety, bright orange to red-brown, often cracked to reveal yellow flesh underneath; margin initially incurved, then uplifted in age.
Gills: yellow, subdistant, thick, adnate to decurrent, sometimes seceding; intervenose; bruising blue or brown.
Stem: 4-8 x 0.5-1.5 cm, tapering towards base, surface yellow, flushed with red in an irregular pattern, yellow mycelia sometimes visible at base.
Spores: smooth, cylindrical, nonamyloid, 11-15 x 4-6 µm
Spore print:
orange- to yellow-brown.
Odor and taste:
  not distinctive.
Edibility:
edible.
Habitat: solitary to scattered in small groups, on ground in hardwood and coniferous forests; summer and fall.

Medicinal properties
Antitumor effects

Polysaccharides extracted from the mycelial culture of P. rhodoxanthus and administered intraperitoneally into white mice at a dosage of 300 mg/kg inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers by 90% and 80%, respectively (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).

Links

Mushroom Expert

References

Frencken JBM.
Once again Phylloporus rhodoxanthus.
Coolia. 1979 22(1):29-30.

Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.

 
Last modified: 13-Aug-2008

Lactarius flavidulus

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008

The medicinal mushroom Lactarius flavidulus
The Japanese mushroom Lactarius flavidulus S. Imai.

Common name

Ki hatsu take (Japanese)

Description

As far as I can determine, this species has only been reported from Japan, and descriptive information is sketchy. Nagasawa (1998) suggests that a more correct name is L. tottoriensis.

Spores: 8-9.2 x 6-7 µm (see a photo here)
Taste: bitter.
Edibility: edible.

Bioactive compounds

Three novel geranylphenols, flavidulols A, B and C (structures shown below), were isolated from Lactarius flavidulus while screening for new inhibitors of proliferation of mouse lymphocytes (Takahashi et al., 1988). The original structures determined for these compounds were later revised based on NMR analysis (Takahashi et al., 1993). This paper also reported the isolation of flavidulol D, also shown below.
The IC50 values for the concanavalin A-induced proliferation of mouse lymphocytes were determined to be 8.9 µg/ml, 4.9 µg/ml and 36.6 µg/ml, respectively, while against lipopolysaccharide-stimulated proliferation, the corresponding IC50 values were 6.7, 3.9 and 28.3 μg/ml (Fujimoto et al., 1993)

flavidulols A, B and C
The flavidulols A, B, and C - inhibitors of lymphocyte proliferation.

flavidulol D from Lactarius flavidulus
Flavidulol D: R1=CH3, R2=COC17H35

Medicinal properties

Antimicrobial and antifungal activity

Using the serial two-fold dilution method, flavidulol A demonstrated antimicrobial activity against various pathogenic organisms (minimum inhibitory concentrations in µg/ml given in parentheses): Staphylococcus aureus (6.2), Bacillus subtilis (6.2), Escherichia coli (>100), Candida albicans (25), Trichophyton rubrum (6.2), and T. mentagrophytes (6.2) (Takahashi et al., 1988). The latter two organisms are fungi responsible for various skin ailments such as athletes foot, jock itch, and ringworm.

Antitumor effects

Polysaccharides extracted from the mycelial culture of L. flavidulus and administered intraperitoneally into white mice at a dosage of 300 mg/kg inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers by 100% (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).

Links

There is more information at Mushbank, a Korean website.

References

Fujimoto H, Nakayama Y, Yamazaki M.
Identification of immunosuppressive components of a mushroom, Lactarius flavidulus.
Chem Pharm Bull. 1993 41(4):654-8.
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Lorenzen K, Anke T, Konetschny-Rapp S, Scheuer W.
5-hydroxy-3-vinyl-2(5H)-furanone–a new inhibitor of human synovial phospholipase A2 and platelet aggregation from fermentations of a Calyptella species (basidiomycetes).
Z Naturforsch-[C]. 1995 50(5-6):403-9.

Nagasawa E.
A preliminary checklist of the Japanese Agaricales. II. The suborder Russulineae
Reports of the Tottori Mycological Institute. 1998 0(36):36-71.

Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.

Takahashi A, Kusano G, Ohta T, Nozoe S.
The constituents of Lactarius flavidulus Imai.
Chem Pharm Bull. 1988 36(7):2366-70.
PubmedIconsml.gif

Takahashi A, Kusano G, Ohta T, Nozoe S.
Revised structures of flavidulols, constituents of Lactarius flavidulus Imai, and the structure of flavidulol-D.
Chem Pharm Bull. 1993 41(11):2032-3.

 

Last modified: 13-Aug-2008

Clavulinopsis fusiformis

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

The medicinal mushroom Clavulinopsis fusiformis
The yellow spindle coral, Clavulinopsis fusiformis (Sowerby) Corner.
  Credit: Joseph O'Brien
  Source: USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

Classification

Kingdom Fungi
Phylum Basidiomycota
Class Basidiomycetes
Order Agaricales
Family Clavariaceae
Genus Clavulinopsis

Synonyms

Clavaria ceranoides Pers.
  Syn. meth. fung. (Göttingen) 2: 594 (1801)
Clavaria compressa Schwein.
  Trans. Am. phil. Soc., New Series 4(2): 182 (1832)
Clavaria fusiformis Sowerby
  Coloured Figures of English Fungi 2: 98 (1799) [1798-99]
Clavaria fusiformis var. ceranoides W.G. Sm.
  Brit. Basid.: 434 (1908)
Clavaria inaequalis var. fusiformis (Sowerby) Fr.
  Elench. fung. (Greifswald) 1: 231 (1828)
Clavaria platyclada Peck
  Bull. Torrey bot. Club 23: 419 (1896)
Ramaria ceranoides (Pers.) Gray
  Nat. Arr. Brit. Pl. (London) 1: 655 (1821)
Ramariopsis fusiformis (Sowerby) R.H. Petersen
  Mycologia 70(3): 668 (1978)

Common names

Yellow spindle coral
Golden fairy spindle
Tongues of flame
Slender golden fingers

Description

Fruiting body: 2-8 cm high, 0.2-0.6 cm diameter, bright yellow, cylindrical, unbranched, often laterally compressed and grooved, tips blunt or pointed, becoming reddish to brown in age; no obvious distinction between fruiting body and stem.
Flesh: solid in younger specimens, hollow in age.
Spores: smooth, thin-walled, hyaline, globose to sub-globose with distinct apiculus, entire, non-amyloid, with droplets, 5-6.5 x 4.5-6 µm.
Spore print: buff.
Odor: not distinctive.
Taste: slightly bitter.
Edibility: edible or inedible, depending on the guidebook you use; not poisonous.
Habitat: typically in clusters on soil in grasslands, humus, in light forests under conifers, or in fields; late summer to autumn.
Chemical tests: flesh turns green in ferric sulphate.

Biochemistry

The extract of Clavulinopsis fusiformis was shown to contain lectins with an anti-B agglutinin specificity (Furukawa et al., 1995).

Medicinal properties
Antitumor effects

Polysaccharides extracted from the mycelial culture of C. fusiformus and administered intraperitoneally into white mice at a dosage of 300 mg/kg inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers by 80% (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).

Links

Mushroom Expert and California Fungi have additional descriptive information. American mushrooms has a number of additional photos.

References

Furukawa K, Ying R, Nakajima T, Matsuki T.
Hemagglutinins in fungus extracts and their blood group specificity.
Exp Clin Immun. 1995 12(4):223-31.

Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.

 

Last modified: 17-Aug-2008