zs- Hericium herinaceus

Yamabushitake - Old Man's beard

MERIDIANS: STOMACH, SPLEEN, LARGE INTESTINE

ASSOCIATED ELEMENTS: WATER METAL EARTH

ACTION: YIN

Edible and medicinal mushrooms are well known and widely used as part of traditional diets and herbs throughout the East in Asia and for the past two decades throughout the world. In recent decades, the medicinal properties of these mushrooms have become the focus of intense research in pharmaceuticals whose principles are cultivated naturally. Hericium erinaceus, already used by Native Americans, is among those most promising as health applications. It has a sweet flavor and is considered a delicacy in popular cuisine-in fact, it replaces pork or lamb in Chinese vegetarian cooking. It is particularly rich in active constituents of diterpenoid compounds, steroids, polysaccharides and many other functional ingredients such as rhamnose and mannose.

Hericium extracts have been found to have gut microbiota regulatory and antimicrobial activities against several antibiotic-resistant pathogens particularly Helicobacter pylori, a typical gastrointestinal pathogen among those responsible for gastric diseases and ulcers. It manifests marked prebiotic power due to its fiber and polysaccharides, which also modulate immune defenses and help in intestinal dysbiosis.

One of the new frontiers in which this interesting mushroom is being tested is in the approach to Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's and degenerative diseases in general. It is not insignificant that it is so helpful at the gastro enteric level, a district of the body that for all intents and purposes is considered the "second brain."

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Shang X, Tan Q, Liu R, Yu K, Li P, Zhao GP. In vitro anti Helicobacter pylori effects of medicinal mushroom extracts, with special emphasis on the Lion's Mane mushroom, Hericium erinaceus (higher Basidiomycetes). Int J Med Mushrooms. 2013;15:165-74.

Zhu Y, Chen Y, Li Q, Zhao T, Zhang M, Feng W, Takase M, Wu X, Zhou Z, Yang L, Wu X. Preparation, characterization, and anti-Helicobacter pylori activity of Bi3+-Hericium erinaceus polysaccharide complex. Carbohydr Polym. 2014;110:231-237.

Elbatrawy EN, Ghonimy EA, Alassar MM, Wu FS. Medicinal mushroom extracts possess differential antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity to cancer cells. Int J Med Mushrooms. 2015;17:471-479.

Friedman M. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria: prevalence in food and inactivation by food-compatible compounds and plant extracts. J Agric Food Chem. 2015; 63:3805-3822.

Li JL, Lu L, Dai CC, Chen K, Qiu JY. A comparative study on sterols of ethanol extract and water extract from Hericium erinaceus. [Article in Chinese] Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 2001; 26:831-34.

Mori K, et al. Improving effects of the mushroom Yamabushitake (Hericium erinaceus) on mild cognitive impairment: a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Phytotherapy Research, 23, 2008, 367-372.

Mori K, et al. Effects of Hericium erinaceus on amyloid β(25-35) peptide-induced learning and memory deficits in mice. Biomedical Research, 32, 2011, 67-72.