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Magical mushroom: Scaling up Ganoderma lucidum cultivation will benefit farmers, users -Arvind Bijalwan and Kalpana Bahuguna

-Down to Earth

Ganoderma lucidum has over 400 chemical constituents with medicinal properties

Ganoderma lucidum is a medicinal mushroom in use for centuries to heal diseases like diabetes, cancer, inflammation, ulcer as well as bacterial and skin infections. In India, however, the potential of the fungus is still being explored. 

It is considered one of the most important medicinal mushrooms in the world since its chemical constituents exhibit numerous medicinal properties. They have earned it monikers such as “mushroom of immortality”, “celestial herb” and “auspicious herb”. It is globally also known as “red reishi mushroom”. 

The history of consumption of this mushroom can be traced back to 5,000 years ago in China. It also finds mention in the historical and medical records of countries like Japan, Korea, Malaysia and India. 

Unlike normal mushrooms, the peculiar character of this one is that it grows on wood or wood-based substrate only. 

With time, many researchers recognised this fungus and tried to identify its constituents and properties. The research is still in progress and many interesting facts are being discovered. 

Ganoderma contains more than 400 chemical constituents, including triterpenes, polysaccharides, nucleotides, alkaloids, steroids, amino acids, fatty acids and phenols.  These show medicinal properties such as immunomodulatory, anti-hepatitis, anti-tumour, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-HIV, antimalarial, hypoglycaemic and anti-inflammatory properties. 

The mushroom is shiny red-brown in colour and naturally grows on wood. It prefers broad-leaved tree species like acacia, poplar, oak, maple, melia, eucalyptus, hevea, tectona and grewia. 

The lower surface of this mushroom is porous, pale white in colour and produces red spores on maturity. It thrives well in warm and humid climates, and grows preferably in mixed forests of sub-tropical to temperate regions. 

Attempts are being made to popularise this mushroom for business and livelihood, by cultivating it on wood logs and sawdust. Earlier it was only collected from the wild but its increasing demand pushed the attempts to artificially cultivate it. 

The first successful artificial cultivation was done in 1969 by technicians of the Chinese Academy of Science. Since then, this mushroom has been cultivated in various wood logs as well as sawdust substrates, with wheat bran, tea leaves, cotton husk and others being the additional substrates. 

The mother culture of Ganoderma lucidum is commonly prepared from its fruiting body by tissue culture method; it is further used to prepare its spawn.

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