09-08-2013, 03:46 PM
Mushroom : A potential source of nutraceuticals
ABSTRACT
Mushrooms are highly nutritive, low-calorie food with good quality proteins, vitamins and minerals. They are an important natural source of foods and medicines that can provide the balanced nutrition comprising of essential nutrients. Compositional analysis of the main cultivated varieties have revealed that, on dry weight basis, mushrooms normally contain between 19-35 per cent protein which is better than many legume sources like soybeans and peanuts, and protein-yielding vegetable foods. Moreover, mushroom proteins contain all the essential amino acids needed in the human diet and are especially rich in lysine and leucine which are lacking in most staple cereal foods. The low total fat content and the high proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (72 to 85 per cent) are considered a significant contributor to the health value of mushrooms. Mushrooms appear to be an excellent source of vitamins especially thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and biotin. Mushrooms enjoy high economic value because of the wide range of activities including antitumour, antioxidant, cardiovascular, hypercholesterolemia, anti cancer and antimicrobial. They also contain very useful nutraceuticals such as phenolics, tocopherols, ascorbic acid, and carotenoids which could be extracted for the purpose of being used as functional ingredients namely against microbial infections. The edible mushrooms which exhibit functional properties include Shiitake (Lentinula edodes), Lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceous), Maitake (Grifola frondosa), Enokitake (Flammulina velutipes), Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) while others known only for their medicinal properties are Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) and Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor) etc. Thus, in developing country like India mushroom progress is a boon in the field of food, medicine, and ingenerating employment.