Abstract
Wolfiporia cocos is a fungus containing triterpenoids and is widely used as an herbal medicine. However, it is unknown whether its main triterpenoid contents differ in different tissues. In this study, we identified dehydrotumulosic acid, polyporenic acid C, pachymic acid, dehydrotrametenolic acid, and dehydroeburicoic acid as the five main triterpenoids in W. cocos. We also systematically profiled the contents and distribution of these main triterpenoids in different tissues of W. cocos. High contents of all five triterpenoids were found in the surface layer of W. cocos. Intriguingly, we noted that the highest contents of the five triterpenoids were found in the surface layer of the sclerotium grown under pollution-controlled cultivation; the second-highest contents were found in the surface layer of the natural sclerotium. These results indicate that environmentally friendly cultivation of the sclerotium of W. cocos is a practical way to increase the productivity of W. cocos. In addition, our findings suggest that the triterpenoids may contribute to the pharmacological activity of W. cocos, and the surface layer of sclerotium in W. cocos might be a promising raw material for applications in health care and the development of functional medical products.
Highlights
IntroductionWolfiporia cocos (F.A. Wolf) Ryvarden & Gilb is an edible and medicinal mushroom growing on the roots of pine trees and has been widely used as an herbal medicine in China, Japan, Korea, and North America [1]
The HPLC profiles of the five investigated triterpenoids were determined by linear range, regression equation, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ)
The results showed that the correlation coefficients of the five investigated triterpenoids were above 0.999, indicating the good linearity of triterpenoids (Table 1)
Summary
Wolfiporia cocos (F.A. Wolf) Ryvarden & Gilb is an edible and medicinal mushroom growing on the roots of pine trees and has been widely used as an herbal medicine in China, Japan, Korea, and North America [1]. Wolf) Ryvarden & Gilb is an edible and medicinal mushroom growing on the roots of pine trees and has been widely used as an herbal medicine in China, Japan, Korea, and North America [1] It is enriched with various organic compounds and is used in many traditional Chinese prescriptions to treat gastritis, nephrosis, edema, dizziness, nausea, emesis and hyperglycemia in many traditional Chinese prescriptions [2,3,4,5,6]. These results suggest that W. cocos may have anti-cancer and Molecules 2018, 23, 1839; doi:10.3390/molecules23081839 www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules
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