Auricularia auriculajudae

Auricularia auricula-judae

 Auricularia It grows in a mutualistic condition on dry trunks and branches. It has the appearance of an ear-shaped gelatinous disk, soft when fresh and tending to become hard when dry. Its stem is absent or barely pronounced.

Auricularia, in whose fruiting body melanin is present, produces several polysaccharides that have a variety of functions, from immunostimulatory to stimulating the production of interferon and interleukins that actively enter the metabolism of animal cells. They have also been found to have effects, cardiovascular and cholesterol-lowering, antiviral, antibacterial and antiparasitic.

 Auricularia has been used as a therapeutic mushroom in China for many centuries. In particular, its applications are found in the treatment of hemorrhoids, to strengthen the body, and thanks to its polysaccharides to support and stimulate the immune system.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Yu Zou, Wenzhong Hu, Kun Ma, and Mixia Tian Physicochemical Properties and Antioxidant Activities of Melanin and Fractions from Auricularia auricula Fruiting Bodies Food Sci. Biotechnol. 24(1): 15-21 (2015)

Lindequist. U., Niedermeyer.T.H.J. and Julich, W.D. 2005 The pharmacological potential of mushrooms, eCAM.2:285-299

M.Rai,S.C. Mandal And K. Acharya Evalutation of pharmacognostic profile of Auricularia auricula, J Mycopathol. Univ. Of Kolkata Res 44(2) : 321-322 2006.

Moore, D., Robson, G.D. & Trinci, A.P.J. (2011). 21st Century Guidebook to Fungi. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9780521186957. 

Chang, S.-T. (2008). Overview of mushroom cultivation and utilization as functional foods. In: Mushrooms as Functional Foods (ed. P.C.K. Cheung), pp. 1-33. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. ISBN: 9780470054062.

Wasser, S.P. & Weis, A.L. (1999). Therapeutic effects of substances occurring in higher basidiomycetes mushrooms: A modern perspective. Critical Reviews in Immunology, 19: 65-96.