Mē LION'S MANE (Hericium erinaceus)

Alternative Names:

Hericium erinaceum
Pom Pom
Monkey's Head
Yamabushitake
Sheep's Head
Hedge Hog
Houtou



Description:

A "toothed" fungi consisting composed of downward cascading spines in the wild. Cultivated varieties usually harvested as roundish mounds of tissue before the spines have elongated. Typically whitish in color, discoloring to yellow or brown with age. This mushroom is popular with gourmet chefs for its distinctive seafood-like flavor which some people describe as being very similar to lobster. Both the fruitbodies and mycelium of the species have been found to contain a variety of medicinally active compounds


Known Active Constituents:

Polysaccharides: many forms & derivations
Erinacines, Hericenones
Ergo-sterol: provitamin D2


Purported Uses:

Nerve regeneration
Anti-diabetic
Anti-cancer
Anti-tumor


Medicinal Activities and Modes of Action

This mushroom has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for the treatment of stomach distress and for cancer prevention. Many distinct polysaccharides have been identified in this species several of which have demonstrated potent anti-tumor properties that extended the lifespan of cancer patients (Mizuno, 1995). Studies in Taiwan on rats that were fed Hericium fruitbodies demonstrated significant beneficial effects on blood glucose, serum triglycerides and total cholesterol levels.

Perhaps the most intriguing medicinal effect of this mushroom has been the discovery of a group of compounds that appears to have the ability to stimulate the re-growth of neurons and nerve cells (Kawagashi, et al., 1994; Kenmoku, et al., 2002). These compounds are known as erinacines (Erinacines A, B, C, Q) . Japanese researchers have patented an extraction process which isolates and purifies "Nerve Growth Stimulant (NGS) factor from this mushroom. Research indicates great potential for the use of this mushroom in the treatment of senility and Alzheimer's disease and the repairing of nerve damage from various traumas.


Selected References

Son, Chang Gue et. al. 2006. "Macrophage activation and nitric acid production by water soluble components of Hericium erinaceum." International Immunopharmocology 6:1363-1369.

Kawagishi H., et al. 1994. "Erinacines A, B, C, strong stimulators of nerve growth factor synthesis from the mushroom Hericium erinaceum". Tetrahedron Letters 35(10):1569-72

Kenmoku, H, T. Shimai, T. Toyomasu, N. Kato, and T. Sassa, 2002. " Erinacine Q, a new erinacine from Hericium erinaceum and its biosynthetic route to erinacines C in the basidiomycete". Bioscience Biothechnology & Biochem Mar:66(3):571-577.

Mizuno, Takashi et. al. 1992. "Antitumor-active polysaccharides isolated from the fruiting body of Hericium erinaceum, an edible and medicinal mushroom called yamabushitake or houtou." Bios, Biotech. Biochem. 56(2): 347-348.

Mizuno, T., ed. 1995, "Mushrooms: The versatile fungus-food and medicinal properties" in Food Reviews International 11(1)no.1, Marcel Dekker, Inc, New York

Nagai, K, A. Chiba, T. Nishino, T. Kubota & H. Kawagishi, 2006. "Dilinoeoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine from Hericium erinaceum protects against ER stress-dependent Neuro2a cell death via protein kinase pathway" J. Nutr. Biochem. Aug.;17(8)525-530. View Article

Wang, JC, et al., 2004. "Hypoglycemic effect of extract of Hericium erinaceus". Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 85(4):641-646. http://www.progenebio.in/DMP/Hericium.htm