Mushrooms are fleshy or macro fungi, belong to a special group in
biological science, the Mycota and their descriptive science is called Mycology.
Mushrooms have considerable interest in the most important civilizations in history
because of their sensory characteristics. They have been recognized for their attractive
culinary attributes. Presently mushrooms are common valuable foods because they
have low calories, carbohydrates, fat, and sodium and are cholesterol-less vegetables.
Besides, mushrooms have important nutrients, and are rich in selenium, potassium,
riboflavin, niacin, vitamin D, proteins, and fiber. Mushrooms have healing capacities
and many properties of traditional medicines. They act as anti-fungal, antibacterial,
immune system enhancers and cholesterol-lowering agents, and also are an important
source of bioactive compounds. Due to the presence of these properties, a variety of
mushroom extracts are used to promote human health and are found as dietary
supplements. It has been reported that mushrooms have beneficial effects on health and
are a good source of treatment for some diseases and disorders. Some of the
nutraceutical properties in mushrooms are seen in the treatment of hypertension, high
risk of stroke, Alzheimer’s, in reducing the likelihood of cancer invasion and
metastasis due to anti-tumoral attributes. Although there are a number of mushroom
varieties having nutritional and nutraceutical properties, mostly are collected from
nature (wild), whereas a few are cultivated on marginal and commercial label. Agaricus
bisporus, species of Lentinula (Lentinus), Volvariella, Pleurotus, Calocybe,
Auricularia, Flammulina, Ganoderma, Schizophyllum, Trametes and few others are
among cultivated varieties in India and abroad. Considering the tremendous nutritional
and medicinal qualities of different groups of these fleshy fungi, the cultivation of
different varieties of mushrooms is increasing globally day by day.
Keywords: Bioactive compounds, Essential amino acids, Human diseases, Medicinal use, Mushroom, Nutraceutical properties, Nutritional value, Vitamins.
