Recent Developments in Shiitake Mushrooms and Their Nutraceutical Importance

Abstract

Mushroom cultivation is one of the rapidly growing agricultural global commodities. Shiitake or golden oak mushroom is explored for scale cultivation and production. Shiitake mushrooms, the second largest edible mushrooms, are in high demand due to their unique taste and health and nutraceutical benefits. The shiitake mushrooms are consumed for food and medicinal purposes. Further, the mushroom as carbon in combination with NiCo2O4 composite has been explored for their application in supercapacitor applications. The wheat starch supplemented with Lentinus edodes β-glucan has been identified for developing low glycemic index foods and even was a good source of low GI noodle bread. The Lentinus edodes β-glucan is found to impact the rheological property as well as in vitro digestion of starch. Moreover, the replacement of starch with 20% LEBG reduced predicted glycemic index (GI) values. The mining of complete genome of shiitake mushrooms and transcriptome analysis have led to identification of various aroma-related genes as well as genes responsible for the autolysis of fruiting bodies. Here in this book chapter, we have discussed the taxonomic status, the genomic organization, nutraceuticals aspects of Lentinus edodes, and how these findings can be used for strain improvement and product development to meet the challenges.