Potential of Mushroom Bioactive Molecules to Develop Healthcare Biotech Products

Mushrooms are widely appreciated all over the world for their nutritional value and medicinal properties. They have low fat, high protein and vitamins contents. Mushrooms contain several minerals and trace elements, as well as substantial amount of dietary fibers. Basidiomycetes mushrooms (phylum Basidiomycota) including agaric and bracket fungi are also producers of bioactive molecules and valuable enzymes with different therapeutic effects. Therefore, they are considered as perspective organisms to develop different healthcare biotech-product. The main groups of bioactive molecules produced by different mushrooms are polysaccharides, terpenoids, phenolics, lectins etc. More than 126 therapeutic effects (immunemodulating, antimicrobial, antiviral, antioxidant, hypocholesterolemic, ect.) of these molecules were revealed. Nowadays, interest to biotechnological cultivation of Basidiomycetes mushrooms is related with the growing demand of different mushroom-based biotech-products in pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries. The submerged cultivation of mycelium has significant industrial potential to obtain biomass and desired bioactive molecules for further development of consistent and safe healthcare products. Several pharmaceuticals (krestin, lentinane, coriolan, schyzophillan, etc.) formulated from medicinal mushrooms are already available in the world market. The majority of mushroom products possesses beneficial health effects owing to the synergistic action of present bioactive molecules and can be used on a regular basis without harm. Nutritive, anti-inflammatory, regenerative and antioxidant properties of several mushrooms makes their usage perspective in manufacturing of cosmetic products. Formulation of balanced food for pets is anew area of application of mushroom biotech-products. Establishment and maintenance of culture collections play important role in studies of biodiversity, genetic resources and biotechnological potential of Basidiomycetes mushrooms.