Medicinal uses of fungi
Brunda H. S.
III B.Sc. CBZ
Govt. First Grade College, Tumkur
Medicinal fungi are those fungi which produce medically significant metabolites or can be induced to produce such metabolites using biotechnology. The range of medically active compounds that have been identified include antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs, cholesterol inhibitors, psychotropic drugs, immunosuppressants and even fungicides. Although initial discoveries centered on simple moulds of the type that cause spoilage of food, later work identified useful compounds across a wide range of fungi.
Penicillin is probably the best known medication made by a mold, but there are many other examples. Penicillin is an antibiotic and kills bacteria. Another medication made by a mold is lovastatin, which is used to lower LDL cholesterol (the so-called bad cholesterol). Cyclosporine is a mold chemical that suppresses the activity of the immune system and is administered after an organ transplant to help prevent rejection of the organ. It's also used to treat some autoimmune diseases.
Some mushrooms have medicinal benefits, too. Oyster mushrooms contain lovastatin, for example, and shiitake mushrooms contain lentinan and eritadenine. Lentinan is an interesting substance that may boost the activity of the immune system and make medications used to treat some types of cancer more effective. Eritadenine lowers blood cholesterol in animals and may do the same in humans.
Fungi naturally produce antibiotics to kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria, limiting their competition in the natural environment. Important antibiotics, such as penicillin and the cephalosporins, can be isolated from fungi. Valuable drugs isolated from fungi include the immunosuppressant drug cyclosporine (which reduces the risk of rejection after organ transplant), the precursors of steroid hormones, and ergot alkaloids used to stop bleeding. Psilocybin is a compound found in fungi such as Psilocybe semilanceata and Gymnopilus junonius, which have been used for their hallucinogenic properties by various cultures for thousands of years.
As simple eukaryotic organisms, fungi are important model research organisms. Many advances in modern genetics were achieved by the use of the red bread mold Neurospora crassa. Additionally, many important genes originally discovered in S. cerevisiae served as a starting point in discovering analogous human genes. As a eukaryotic organism, the yeast cell produces and modifies proteins in a manner similar to human cells, as opposed to the bacterium Escherichia coli, which lacks the internal membrane structures and enzymes to tag proteins for export. This makes yeast a much better organism for use in recombinant DNA technology experiments. Like bacteria, yeasts grow easily in culture, have a short generation time, and are amenable to genetic modification.
Ganoderma lucidum is a popular medicinal mushroom that has been used as a home remedy in traditional Chinese medicine for the prevention or treatment of a variety of diseases including cancer. Today, G. lucidum is recognized as a dietary supplement recommended in many countries as a cancer therapeutic. Another important property of this edible mushroom is the ability to take up and accumulate trace metals such as cadmium, lead, arsenic, copper, nickel, silver, chromium, and mercury in the body or mycelium of the mushroom.
Cordyceps sinensis (CS) has been used as a tonic for longevity, endurance, and vitality for thousands of years by the Chinese.
Fungi are also used to produce industrial chemicals, including citric, malic and lactic acids. They are also used in the production of industrial enzymes such as lipase, cellulase and amylase. Lipase is used in laundry detergents. Fungi are also used as insect biocontrol agents. Insecticidal toxins produced by fungi can kill insects at very low concentration.