Therapeutical Properties of Bioactive Compounds Extracted from Ganoderma lucidum Species on Acute and Chronic Diseases

Abstract

Ganoderma lucidum or Reishi is a medicinal mushroom of significant importance that is being used for the prevention and treatment of various diseases, due to its numerous pharmacological and therapeutic properties. The Ganodermataceae family is diverse, but the focus is on the lucidum species because of its specific biologically active macromolecules such as polysaccharides, triterpenoids, steroids, phenolic compounds, lactones, and fatty acids that were isolated from the mycelia and fruiting bodies. Ganoderma lucidum species have many benefits over the immune system (promoting health) and properties such as: anti-tumoral, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-viral, anti-bacterial and antioxidant. Based on the literature, triterpenoids and polysaccharides are the most abundant active compounds that possess anti-diabetic, hepatoprotective, cytotoxic and anti-hypertensive effects. A review of the literature showed that there are very few papers that studied semisolid dosage forms preparations based of Ganoderma lucidum extract to have been used on damaged skin and skin diseases, neither have there been enough studies on its anti-aging properties.