Recent advances in polysaccharides from Lentinus edodes (Berk.): Isolation, structures and bioactivities

Lentinus edodes, an important edible mushroom cultivated in East Asia for thousands of years, has been widely used as food and medicinal ingredient worldwide. Modern phytochemistry studies have demonstrated that L. edodes is very rich in bioactive polysaccharides, especially the beta-glucans. Over the past two decades, the isolation, chemical properties, and bioactivities of polysaccharides from fruiting bodies, mycelium and fermentation broth of L. edodes have been drawing much attention from scholars around the world. It has been demonstrated that L. edodes polysaccharides possess various remarkable biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-tumor, anti-aging, anti-inflammation, immunomodulatory, antiviral, and hepatoprotection effects. This review summarizes the recent development of polysaccharides from L. edodes including the isolation methods, structural features, bioactivities and mechanisms, and their structure-activity relationship, which can provide useful research underpinnings and update information for their further application as therapeutic agents and functional foods.

Automated summary

Lentinus edodes, commonly known as shiitake mushroom, is a widely cultivated edible mushroom in East Asia with rich bioactive polysaccharides, especially beta-glucans. Research on the polysaccharides from L. edodes has shown various remarkable biological activities such as antioxidant, anti-tumor, and immunomodulatory effects, drawing attention from scholars worldwide. Recent studies on the isolation methods, structural features, bioactivities, and mechanisms of L. edodes polysaccharides provide valuable research insights for their further application as therapeutic agents and functional foods.