Shiitake, a Japanese forest mushroom is an edible mushroom, a species of the genus Lentinula of the Negniichnikov family.
Description
Chinese shiitake mushrooms are representatives of woody lamellar mushrooms. The hat is brown, the tone changes from light brown to dark. The edges of the cap are lighter, fringed. The entire surface of the cap is covered with whitish scales. The diameter of the cap varies in the range of 5-25 cm. The pulp is white, the plates are also white, when pressed, they become brown. The flesh of the leg is white, tough, darkens when pressed. The mushrooms taste like champignons. They make soup, salads and fried dishes. The fungus grows naturally on the deadwood of shea trees. Other names – “black forest mushroom”, “Japanese mushroom”.
Medicinal raw materials
The product combines health benefits and excellent taste characteristics. When collecting shiitake mushrooms, they are usually cut with a knife, but sometimes twisting is also used. When unscrewed, the leg is removed completely, leaving no pieces of mushroom that can rot or contribute to mold. The collected shiitake is placed immediately in a container for transportation to the place of processing or sale.
Biologically active substances
Shiitake mushroom contains vitamins (A, D, C, B group), useful trace elements, amino acids, fatty acids, and polysaccharides. Even coenzyme Q10 was found in the composition of these mushrooms.
Shiitake mushrooms contain a large number of vitamins, a lot of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, biotin are found. The mushroom is especially valuable for the presence of vitamin D. In shiitake mushrooms grown in natural conditions, the amount of vitamin D exceeds the level of the cod liver.
In shiitake mushrooms, the polysaccharide lentinan was recently discovered, which forms substances that can fight cancer cells, as well as phytoncides that help to resist viral diseases, hepatitis, influenza, and even HIV.
History of use in medicine
China and Japan are considered the birthplace of shiitake, these mushrooms have been cultivated there for more than a thousand years. Documents are confirming the use of wild Shiitake mushrooms from two centuries BC.
It was also believed that the substances contained in shiitake mushrooms prevent premature aging.
The name of the mushroom is derived from the word “Shii” – a kind of dwarf chestnut, and “take” in Japanese means a mushroom, it turns out “a mushroom growing on a chestnut.” In this case, the tree may not necessarily be a chestnut, but, for example, alder, maple, hornbeam, or oak, shiitake will still grow healing.
In China, the name of the mushroom depends on the area: Shiang Gu or Hoang Mo.
The modern Latin name for the shiitake mushroom is Lentinula edodes. The older Latin name Lentinus edodes is sometimes encountered.
Pharmacological properties
Pharmacological activity (immunomodulating effect, antiviral, antiblastoma) of the powder and extract of the shiitake mushroom is mainly associated with the presence of polysaccharides in its composition, the leading of which is lentinan, which belongs to the group of biological response modifiers. Other polysaccharides that makeup shiitake have a similar effect: emitanin and KS-2. Shiitake polysaccharides work by normalizing and activating immune processes by stimulating natural killer cells (NK cells) and killer T lymphocytes. Amino acids, including essential ones (leucine, isoleucine, lysine, threonine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, valine), B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin), D vitamins restore the blood formula. Vitamin D3 (calciferol), is involved in the regulation of immunogenetic and cell proliferation, potentiates the cytostatic effect on the tumor, prolongs the therapeutic effect, and minimizes the load of the basic chemotherapy. The active metabolite of vitamin D3 is calcitriol and
It inhibits tumor growth. The fungus also helps to fight arteriosclerosis, hypertension, makes it easier to feel in post-infarction and post-stroke conditions, lowering blood cholesterol levels.
Shiitake also increases the antiviral defense of the body due to fungal phytoncides, which help with any viral infections (herpes, hepatitis, flu).
Toxicology and side effects
Shiitake mushroom is contraindicated in children under 12-14 years old, pregnant and lactating women, as well as people diagnosed with bronchial asthma (due to potential allergens in the composition). With individual intolerance to mushrooms, an allergic reaction is possible.
Shiitake, like all mushrooms, contains indigestible substances, so mushrooms should be consumed in moderation.
Clinical application
The list of various diseases for which Shiitake has proven to be effective is so long that it can be said that this mushroom is a kind of panacea. The amazing healing properties of the mushroom are amazing. For modern biochemistry, this mushroom has become a real sensation, and even the periodic use of shiitake significantly improves health, fighting both existing diseases and putting an insurmountable barrier against dangerous viruses and pathogens attacking humans from the outside.
The polysaccharide Lentinan was first extracted from the Shiitake mushroom, and its anti-tumor effect was studied by Dr. Chihara and the National Cancer Institute of Japan in 1969.
Lentinan, used in relatively small doses, exhibits high antitumor activity. It stimulates the immune system, which plays a major role in the destruction of tumors. Lentinan enhances various immune functions of the body, rather than attacking the tumor cells (or viruses) themselves, for example, by increasing the phagocytic activity of macrophages.
The most effective use of shiitake is considered to be its use in the form of an extract since drying concentrates the polysaccharide lentinan and other active elements – polysaccharides and KS-2. In Japan, Lentinan is often used to support immune function in cancer patients during chemotherapy (eg cyclophosphamide), resulting in increased patient survival. It is well known that such chemotherapeutic agents can lead to severe immune suppression. Shiitake, on the other hand, has not only an immune-restoring effect, but also an immuno-enhancing effect.
Antiviral action. Since viral diseases, such as HIV, are difficult to treat with modern pharmaceuticals, there is now a lot of interest in the potent effects of the Shiitake medicinal mushroom, which inhibits several viruses. In viral infections, Shiitake has two main mechanisms of action. The first, as in the case of tumor diseases, is to modify the body’s immune response. The second mechanism is associated with the action of Lentinan, which has a direct antiviral effect.
In addition, Shiitake contains phytonutrients – “virus-like particles” that cause the body itself to produce interferon-a powerful protein component of the immune system that blocks the multiplication of viruses. Shiitake is highly effective for hepatitis, herpes, flu, and other viral diseases.
Cardiovascular effects. The constituents of shiitake make it a very valuable mushroom for cardiovascular diseases. There is an active compound in shiitake – eritadenine, which significantly lowers cholesterol and lipids in the blood.
Another active ingredient, tyrosinase, contained in the mushroom, helps lower blood pressure. Shiitake can lower both blood pressure and free cholesterol levels. This action is also associated with the presence of soluble (glucans and pectins) and insoluble (hemicellulose, lignin, chitin) fibers in the fungus. Shiitake helps to reduce blood viscosity, gently lower blood pressure, and this ability allows it to be used for any cardiovascular disease.
Shiitake lowers cholesterol levels Adding several blood serum samples from healthy people who took a dose of mushrooms (120 grams) before blood sampling to atherosclerotic plaques taken from a patient significantly reduced cholesterol levels in the latter. Interestingly, the blood serum of patients led to the accumulation of cholesterol and the formation of atheroma in the culture of healthy heart cells. After the patients took a dose of Shiitake mushroom, their blood serum no longer led to the accumulation of cholesterol for 5 hours. Studies by Japanese scientists have shown that eritadenine is responsible for lowering cholesterol levels. It accelerates the conversion of lipoproteins of too low density (VLDLs, a high level of which underlies the formation of atheroma and the formation of further hypertensive syndrome), into high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), thereby actually lowering the levels (LDLs). Recent studies have shown that Shiitake reduces the level of too low-density lipoproteins (VLDLs), which are precursors of LDLs and are regarded as building blocks. Thus, the fewer VLDLs, the fewer LDLs will be produced by the liver.
Shiitake while protecting from knotting. When developing protection against radiation injury, lentinan has established itself as an effective radioprotector. Treatment of mice with lentinan, previously irradiated, provided them with complete protection against an increase in the number of white blood cells. There are also reported cases of a significant reduction in the side effects of radiation and chemotherapy in patients who took lentinan concomitantly.