Medicinal fungi

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 57. Chapters: Yeast, Shiitake, Penicillium, Medicinal mushrooms, Beta-glucan, Lingzhi mushroom, Phallus indusiatus, Agaricus subrufescens, Auricularia auricula-judae, Polyozellus, Ergot, Red yeast rice, Fomes fomentarius, Astraeus hygrometricus, Claviceps purpurea, Lysurus mokusin, Lactarius piperatus, Grifola frondosa, Cyathus stercoreus, Polysaccharide-K, Chaga mushroom, Xanthoria elegans, Penicillium chrysogenum, Clavariadelphus truncatus, Antrodia, Xylaria hypoxylon, Hericium erinaceus, Fu Ling, Phellinus linteus, Ganoderma tsugae, EpiCor, Medicinal molds, Ganoderma multipileum, Polysaccharide Peptide. Excerpt: Medicinal mushrooms are mushrooms, or mushroom extracts, that are used or studied as possible treatments for diseases. Shiitake, maitake, and reishi, have a history of medicinal use spanning millennia in parts of Asia. Medicinal mushroom research has indicated possible cardiovascular, anticancer, antiviral, antibacterial, antiparasitic, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, and antidiabetic activities. Currently, several mushroom extracts like schizophyllan, PSK, PSP, and lentinan are used in some parts of Asia as chemotherapy adjuvants. Research with most other extracts, are on cell lines, animals, or limited clinical trials. Fungi that do not produce mushrooms, were the original source of penicillin, griseofulvin, lovastatin, and other medicines. "Mushrooms have long been valued as highly tasty and nutritional foods by many societies throughout the world. Early civilizations, by trial and error built up a practical knowledge of those suitable to eat and those to be avoided, e.g. poisonous or psychotropic. However, in the Orient several thousand years ago, there was the recognition that many edible and certain non-edible mushrooms could have valuable health benefits."Lentinula edodes (shiitake) and Grifola frondosa (maitake) have a history of medicinal use spanning millennia in parts of Asia. In ancient Japan, Grifola frondosa was worth its weight in silver. Ganoderma lucidum, used as a tea, is known in Chinese as língzhi or "spirit plant", and in Japanese as mannentake or "10,000 year mushroom". Inonotus obliquus (chaga) has a history of medicinal use spanning 500 years, in parts of Russia and Northern Europe. The ancient Egyptians considered mushrooms food for royalty. The prophet Muhammad said, "Truffles (Terfeziaceae) are manna which Allah, sent to the people of Israel through Moses, and its juice is a medicine for the eyes". Ötzi the Iceman, a mummified human from 3300 BC, was found carrying Fomes fomentarius (amadou) and Piptoporus betulinus (birch polypore) w