Fibrinolytic Enzymes from Medicinal Mushrooms

Mushrooms, a special group of macrofungi, are not plants and thus do not use photosynthesis for nutrient acquisition. Mushrooms are fleshy, have the spore-bearing fruiting body of fungi, and typically grow above ground on soil, or other food sources. Most mushrooms are Basidiomycota or Agaricomycetes. The fruiting body of mushrooms is an important food and is used in many cuisines worldwide. Additionally, several species have been consumed extensively as a crude drug or folk tonics; in East Asia, these mushrooms are considered as medicinal mushrooms. Some medicinal mushrooms can be cultured and are an abundant source of natural proteins and polysaccharides. These mushrooms have garnered considerable attention for clinical research and for modern scientific and medicinal researches investigating their biological functions (Kino et al., 1989).