Chapter 30 - Role of mushroom polysaccharides in improving gut health and associated diseases

Abstract

Mushrooms have been widely used for nutritional and therapeutic purposes for over a millennium. Medicinal mushrooms have the potential to stimulate the gut microbiota by functioning as immunomodulators. However, mushrooms’ health-promoting attributes through regulation of the gut microbiota have not been thoroughly studied. This chapter provides information on the health-promoting properties of medicinal mushrooms in regulating the gut microbiota and the mechanisms by which mushrooms improve host health through their prebiotic potential. Mushrooms are rich in dietary fibers such as chitin, galactans, α- and β-glucans, mannans, and xylans. These indigestible mushroom polysaccharides contribute as an excellent source of prebiotics and prevent the proliferation of opportunistic pathogens, promote the growth of probiotic bacteria, and restore the bacterial imbalance in the gastrointestinal tract. Mushrooms polysaccharides have also been shown to enhance the antioxidant status by improving microbiome diversity in the gut. The explicit mechanisms of the polysaccharide constituents that are present in mushrooms that are responsible for prebiotic potential and gut microbiota modulation need further study.