Medicinal Mushrooms as a Source of Novel Functional Food

Mushrooms are higher fungi having great taste and nutraceutical properties. They are one such dietary component that can help us in addressing the issues of quality food, health and environmental sustainability. Due to the presence of a large number of secondary metabolites mushrooms can be used as a source for biotherapeutics which in turn can help in development of new drugs. There has been a recent upsurge of interest in mushrooms not only as a health food which is rich in protein but also due to the presence of biologically active compounds of medicinal value which possess antioxidative, anticancer, antiviral, hepatoprotective, immunomodulating and hypocholesterolemic properties. Hence, mushrooms are used as a dietary supplements as wells as therapeutic agents in complementary medicine. Edible items can be fortified with mushrooms owing to their high nutritive value and such food serve as a nutrient reservoir for malnourished populations. The potential therapeutic implications of mushrooms are enormous however; detailed mechanisms of various health benefits of mushrooms to humans still require intensive investigation, especially with the emergence of new evidence of their health benefit. The paper outlines the information on all such aspects of medicinal mushrooms along with their role in various diseases and in the area of clinical nutrition.