ABSTRACT
Mushrooms contain a diverse range of metabolites and bioactive compounds with the significant potential to be developed and applied in numerous industries, including agriculture, biomedicine, cosmeceutics, pest and waste management, nutraceutics and biotechnology. Owing to their various benefits, their exploration and cultivation have increased worldwide. Therapeutic metabolites that are often attributed to mushrooms and their extracts, derived from the mycelium or fruiting bodies, include polysaccharides, terpenoids, glycoproteins, polyketides, alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins and anthraquinones. Mushrooms are reported to possess antioxidant, anticollagenase, anti-obesity, antielastase, anti-inflammatory, antitumor and anti-tyrosinase activities. Their bioactive compounds have also been shown to be hepatoprotective, hypoglycemic and immunomodulating. However, the mechanisms of action of mushroom-derived bioactive compounds are still being studied as various biochemical pathways remain to be studied. The bioprospecting potential of wild and cultivated mushrooms in biotechnology and biomedical applications are discussed in this chapter.
