Culture conditions for exopolysaccharide (EPS) production by Pleurotus pulmonarius in submerged culture are optimized. The suggested medium composition was as follows: 60 g/L of xylose, 6 g/L of soy extract, 5 mM of KH2PO4 and 5 mM of MgSO4. Under the optimized culture conditions in a 5-litre stirred tank fermentor, the maximum concentration of EPS was 6.36 g/L. Furthermore, the morphological p...

Polysaccharides are one of the most potent mushroom-derived substances exhibiting anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties. The aims of the present study were to determine whether orally administered glucans from the edible mushroom Pleurotus pulmonarius could attenuate or prevent the development of experimental colitis in mice. Colonic inflammation was induced in mice by treatment wit...

This study was carried out to investigate the therapeutic role of the ethanolic extract of Pleurotus cornucopiae on sodium arsenite induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Sodium arsenite at the dose of 8 mg·kg–1 body weight orally caused renal damage in rats as manifested by the significant rise in serum levels of serum urea, uric acid and creatinine level compared with control. Ethanolic extracts of ...

This study was conducted to evaluate the degradation of aromatic dyes and the production of ligninolytic enzymes by 10 white rot fungi. The results of this study revealed that Pycnoporus cinnabarinus, Pleurotus pulmonarius, Ganoderma lucidum, Trametes suaveolens, Stereum ostrea and Fomes fomentarius have the ability to efficiently degrade congo red on solid media. However, malachite green inhib...

Mushrooms are low calorie food with very little fat and are highly suitable for obese persons. With no starch and very low sugars, they are the 'delight of the diabetics'. Combination of herbal drugs (or isolated phytochemicals) is found to be beneficial in certain diseases when given along with conventional drugs. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of aqueous extract of P...

BACKGROUND The use of natural bioactive compounds in conventional chemotherapy is a new direction in cancer treatment that is gaining more research attention recently. Bioactive polysaccharides and polysaccharide-protein complexes from some fungi (edible mushrooms) have been identified as sources of effective and non-toxic antineoplastic agents. Selected oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus pulmonarius ...

Two laccase isoenzymes produced by Pleurotus eryngii were purified to electrophoretic homogeneity (42- and 43-fold) with an overall yield of 56.3%. Laccases I and II from this fungus are monomeric glycoproteins with 7 and 1% carbohydrate content, molecular masses (by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) of 65 and 61 kDa, and pIs of 4.1 and 4.2, respectively. The highest ra...