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17.3 Nutritional and Nutraceutical Potential of Mushrooms
Nutraceuticals and nutriceuticals are considered as food or a part of diet that have
therapeutic and health benefits, which helps in fighting against several diseases.
They may vary from herbal products to dietary supplements, isolated nutrients,
genetically engineered/designer food and processed food products like beverages,
cereals and soups. There are several examples of nutritive nutraceuticals/functional
food ingredients like proteins, peptides, keto acids, amino acids, polyunsaturated
fatty acids (PUFA), vitamins, minerals and antioxidants (Barros et al. 2008).
Mushrooms are extremely nutritious with low fat content and high protein, essential
amino acid, mineral and vitamin content (Agrahar-Murugkar and Subbulakshmi
2005). Studies showed that around 35 different species of edible mushrooms are
cultivated commercially, however almost 200 species of wild mushrooms are used
for their medicinal properties (Beulah et al. 2013). Recently, researchers gain interests in exploring mushrooms as a functional food, as a reservoir for development of
potent therapeutic products and as a rich nutraceuticals, responsible for their antioxidant, anti-microbial and anti-tumor properties (Barros et al. 2007; Çağlarırmak
2007; Elmastas et al. 2007; Gupta et al. 2018; Ribeiro et al. 2007; Salihović et al.
2019). Several researchers, have documented the therapeutic potential of nutraceutical compounds isolated from mushrooms in cure and prevention of fatal diseases
like cancer, hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases and cerebral stroke (Pardeshi and
Pardeshi 2009; Wasser and Weis 1999). The investigation of therapeutic and nutraceutical potential of mushrooms gives an idea that they can be future food, which
provides high quality protein and minerals (Barreira et al. 2014; Cheung 2013; El
Enshasy and Hatti-Kaul 2013; Heleno et al. 2015a; Khatua et al. 2013; Kumar 2015;
Ruthes et al. 2016; Singh et al. 2016; Tel-Cayan et al. 2017).
17.3.1 Proteins and Peptides
Proteins are one of the major macronutrients found in a quality food. In the last few
decades, researchers have studied the importance of protein, essential amino acids,
peptides and their significance for nutrition and health. Particularly, the biological
functions of several dietary or bioactive proteins & peptides have been studied in
more detail (Walther and Sieber 2011). Proteins and peptides are substantial bioactive nutraceuticals in mushrooms which possess numerous health benefits, like
improving the digestion and absorption of nutrients, enhancing immune activity and
regulating enzymatic activity (Valverde et al. 2015). The protein and peptides commonly found in mushrooms are ribosome inactivating proteins (RIPs), lectins, laccases, fungal immunomodulatory proteins (FIPs), and ribonucleases (Ko et al. 1995;
Munoz et al. 1997; Xu et al. 2011). Among these proteins, lectins are glycoproteins
or non-immune proteins have the property of cell agglutination and binds with the
S. Painuli et al.
17.3 Nutritional and Nutraceutical Potential of Mushrooms
Nutraceuticals and nutriceuticals are considered as food or a part of diet that have
therapeutic and health benefits, which helps in fighting against several diseases.
They may vary from herbal products to dietary supplements, isolated nutrients,
genetically engineered/designer food and processed food products like beverages,
cereals and soups. There are several examples of nutritive nutraceuticals/functional
food ingredients like proteins, peptides, keto acids, amino acids, polyunsaturated
fatty acids (PUFA), vitamins, minerals and antioxidants (Barros et al. 2008).
Mushrooms are extremely nutritious with low fat content and high protein, essential
amino acid, mineral and vitamin content (Agrahar-Murugkar and Subbulakshmi
2005). Studies showed that around 35 different species of edible mushrooms are
cultivated commercially, however almost 200 species of wild mushrooms are used
for their medicinal properties (Beulah et al. 2013). Recently, researchers gain interests in exploring mushrooms as a functional food, as a reservoir for development of
potent therapeutic products and as a rich nutraceuticals, responsible for their antioxidant, anti-microbial and anti-tumor properties (Barros et al. 2007; Çağlarırmak
2007; Elmastas et al. 2007; Gupta et al. 2018; Ribeiro et al. 2007; Salihović et al.
2019). Several researchers, have documented the therapeutic potential of nutraceutical compounds isolated from mushrooms in cure and prevention of fatal diseases
like cancer, hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases and cerebral stroke (Pardeshi and
Pardeshi 2009; Wasser and Weis 1999). The investigation of therapeutic and nutraceutical potential of mushrooms gives an idea that they can be future food, which
provides high quality protein and minerals (Barreira et al. 2014; Cheung 2013; El
Enshasy and Hatti-Kaul 2013; Heleno et al. 2015a; Khatua et al. 2013; Kumar 2015;
Ruthes et al. 2016; Singh et al. 2016; Tel-Cayan et al. 2017).
17.3.1 Proteins and Peptides
Proteins are one of the major macronutrients found in a quality food. In the last few
decades, researchers have studied the importance of protein, essential amino acids,
peptides and their significance for nutrition and health. Particularly, the biological
functions of several dietary or bioactive proteins & peptides have been studied in
more detail (Walther and Sieber 2011). Proteins and peptides are substantial bioactive nutraceuticals in mushrooms which possess numerous health benefits, like
improving the digestion and absorption of nutrients, enhancing immune activity and
regulating enzymatic activity (Valverde et al. 2015). The protein and peptides commonly found in mushrooms are ribosome inactivating proteins (RIPs), lectins, laccases, fungal immunomodulatory proteins (FIPs), and ribonucleases (Ko et al. 1995;
Munoz et al. 1997; Xu et al. 2011). Among these proteins, lectins are glycoproteins
or non-immune proteins have the property of cell agglutination and binds with the
S. Painuli et al.