Humans have consumed mushrooms for as long as we have written records, and most likely well before. Our cultural associations with fungi date back to tribal times, where mushrooms were often considered special and/or sacred. Today, mushrooms remain a complex and mysterious subject.

Each edible mushroom has its own variety of medicinal compounds. More than 10,000 species of mushrooms exist in nature, and there are over 650 different edible mushrooms (mostly in the form of extracts) today, all showing the ability to influence the immune response. Although each mushroom has its own special group of beneficial properties, there is not one specific mushroom considered "better" than the rest, because all mushrooms are magic. 

They are all treasured because of their unique structure. Mushrooms in common with other fungi have compounds in their cell walls, containing long chain molecules which have been shown to interact with a number of receptors on the surface of major categories of cells in the immune system of humans and all other animals. Our immune system has the innate ability to recognize the structural components of these mushroom compounds, responding to them with activation and increased effectiveness in terms of the immune response against not only cancerous cells, but also other foreign cells, viral infections, bacterial infections, and parasites.

These compounds from mushroom cell walls help to potentiate our immune system's response to all of these different categories of pathogens and natural threats that we have faced and will continue to face.

Nutritional Value of Medicinal Mushrooms

Mushrooms are considered a superfood with high nutritional and functional value, and they are also accepted as nutraceutical foods; they are of considerable interest because of their organoleptic merit, medicinal properties, and economic significance. However, there is not an easy distinction between edible and medical mushrooms because many of the common edible species have therapeutic properties and several used for medical purposes are also edible.

The most cultivated mushroom worldwide is Agaricus bisporus (your white button/portobello mushrooms), followed by Lentinus edodes (Shiitake), Pleurotus ostreatus (Oyster Mushrooms), and Flammulina velutipes (Enokitake). While more and more research is done, mushroom production continuously increases every year, with China being the leading producer around the world. However, many other wild mushrooms are becoming popular for their nutritional, sensory, and especially pharmacological characteristics.

Most mushrooms are composed of around 90% water by weight. The remaining 10% consists of 10–40% protein, 1–8% fat, 3–28% carbohydrate, 3–32% fiber, 8–10% ash, and some vitamins and minerals, with potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium, iron, zinc, and copper accounting for most of the mineral content. 

The nutritional value of edible mushrooms is due to their high protein, fiber, vitamin and mineral contents, and low-fat levels. They are very useful for vegetarian diets because they provide all the essential amino acids for adult requirements and have higher protein content than most animals and vegetables. Besides, edible mushrooms contain many different bioactive compounds with various human health benefits. 

Note: Mushrooms are one of the only non-animal sources that produce vitamin D. In order to produce vitamin D, the cultivation area must be exposed to sunlight or ultraviolet light. (Consumers must make sure the mushroom farm in which they are buying their mushrooms from are grown in sunlight or ultraviolet rooms, specifically if they are looking for high Vitamin D content in mushrooms).

Numerous molecules synthesized by macrofungi are known to be bioactive, and these bioactive compounds found in fruit bodies and cultured mycelium are polysaccharides, proteins, fats, minerals, glycosides, alkaloids, volatile oils, terpenoids, tocopherols, phenolics, flavonoids, carotenoids, folates, lectins, enzymes, ascorbic, and organic acids, in general. Polysaccharides, especially β-glucans, have been the most researched and versatile metabolites with a wide spectrum of biological activity.

General Function of Medicinal Mushrooms

More than 130 medicinal functions are produced by mushrooms, with key medicinal uses including: antioxidant, anticancer, antidiabetic, antiallergic, immunomodulating, cardiovascular protector, anticholesterolemic, antiviral, antibacterial, antiparasitic, antifungal, detoxification, hepatoprotective effects and  protecting against tumor development and inflammatory processes.

In addition, the expanded knowledge of the molecular basis of tumorigenesis and metastasis (the spread of cancer cells to new areas of the body) has given the opportunity for discovering new alternative drugs against abnormal molecular and biochemical signals leading to cancer. In the last decade, the interest for pharmaceutical potential of mushrooms has been increased rapidly, acknowledging mushrooms as mini-pharmaceutical factories producing compounds with miraculous biological properties. 

*All bioactive compounds and medicinal functions mentioned above are discussed in more detail in the unique pages of each medicinal mushroom species, including supported research analysis from clinical studies, International Journals of Medicine, and International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms.