REISHI, GANODERMA-LUCIDUM AND GANODERMA-TSUGAE - BIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES AND MEDICINAL EFFECTS

Reishi, Ganoderma sp., has been known in Japan, China, and other countries as a food and raw material for the development of drugs. Recent studies have shown that the carcinostatic substance in Reishi is a polysaccharide, β-(l —3)-D-glucan. This polysaccharide seems to haye promise as a new type of carcinostatic agent which might be useful in immunotherapy. Unlike chemicals used in chemotherapy, it has few toxic side effects because its effect is based on immunological enhancement in the host. Reishi also seems to contain other substances which reduce blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood sugar levels; and inhibit platelet aggregation, etc. Some lanostane triterpenoids have been isolated from Ganoderma lucidum and G. applanatum, and drimane sesquiter. © 1995, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.