Higher fungi new-old source of raw materials for pharmaceutical industry

Abstract

Mushrooms are a popular and valuable functional food, low in calories and high in minerals, essential amino acids, vitamins and fibers. More than 270 mushroom species are high valuable nutritive food, but they also have different pharmacologicaly effects, what classify them in the group of the medicinal mushrooms. These mushrooms show immunomodulating and anticancerous properties, they act like antioxidants and antihypertensive substances, have ability to lower cholesterol and protect the liver, possess antiinflammatory, antidiabetic, antiviral and antimicrobial properties. Medicinal mushrooms are very reach sources of new biomedicinal molecules which can be used in treating different disorders in human organism. Among these biomolecules the most important are protein bounded polysaccharides which are made by basidiomycetes; thanks to their extraordinary properties these biomolecules are classified like antitumorous substances by American National Cancer Institute. .

Pečurke su popularna i vredna funkcionalna hrana, zahvaljujući niskom sadržaju kalorija i sa druge strane visokom sadržaju minerala, esencijalnih amino kiselina, vitamina i vlakana. Pored nutritivnog aspekta, dokazano je da više od 270 vrsta gljiva ima i različita farmakološka dejstva, što ih svrstava u grupu lekovitih gljiva. Ove gljive pokazuju imunomodulatorska i antikancerogena svojstva, deluju kao antioksidanti, antihipertenzivne supstance, snižavaju holesterol, štite jetru, pokazuju antiinflamatorna, antidijabetska, antivirusna i antimikrobna svojstva. Lekovite gljive su bogat izvor niza novih biomedicinskih molekula koji mogu da se koriste u tretiranju različitih poremećaja u ljudskom organizmu. Među ovim biomolekulima najznačajniji su polisaharidi vezani za proteine, koje stvaraju bazidiomicete, a zbog izuzetnih svojstava koje imaju Američki nacionalni institut za kancer klasifikovao ih je kao antitumorne supstance. .