Medicinal Mushrooms: Ancient Remedies Meet Modern Science.

Integrative Medicine • Vol. 13, No. 1 • February 2014 46 Stamets—Medicinal Mushrooms Our ancestors have used mushrooms as medicine for thousands of years. The Greek physician Hippocrates, circa 450 BCE, classified the amadou mushroom (Fomes fomentarius) as a potent anti-inflammatory and for cauterizing wounds. The alchemist Tao Hongjing, from the 5th century, described several medicinal mushrooms, including ling zhi (Ganoderma lucidum) and zhu ling (Dendropolyporus umbellatus), some in use reportedly by Shennong many centuries before. Ötzi, the Ice Man, who lived nearly 5300 years ago, carried amadou and a birch polypore tethered in a pouch to help him survive in the Alps of northern Italy. First peoples of North America used puffball mushrooms (Calvatia genus) as wound healers. Although mushrooms have long been used by various cultures, only recently has modern science rediscovered what the ancients knew long ago—that mushrooms can be deep reservoirs of powerful medicines. Yet, mushrooms remain an enigma to many in the medical field, but this ignorance is rapidly changing. The surge in interest is not only related to the deep cultural history of their use, but it is also due to modern methods for tissue culture of mycelium and new methods for testing the activity of individual constituents and their synergies. We know that G lucidum has at least 16 000 genes that code for more than 200 000 compounds, of which 400 are “active constituents.” More than 150 novel enzymes have been identified from mushroom species so far. Clearly, mushrooms manufacture many novel constituents worthy of medical investigations. Mushrooms are nature’s miniature pharmaceutical factories, rich in a vast array of novel constituents and wide open for exploration. The lag in time for modern science to explore mushrooms for their medicinal properties is probably due to their nature. Mushrooms are ephemeral—they may be in our experiential view for just a few days, whereas our encounters with plants and animals can last months or years. That some mushrooms can feed you, some can heal you, some can kill you, and some can send you on a spiritual journey speaks of their diverse chemical constituents. From an evolutionary and survival point of view, it is safer to avoid that which is poorly understood yet so powerful. Medicinal Mushrooms: Ancient Remedies Meet Modern Science