ABSTRACT
This article reviews Agaricus blazei Murill (ABM) mushroom (Almond mushroom) in term of its botanical background, primary and secondary metabolites profiling, therapeutic activity and cultivation of this mushroom in the submerged fermentation system. Nowadays, this mushroom is widely used as functional food and natural remedies in medicinal extract form or consumed as concentrated tea for the treatment of various diseases. The β-glucans are one of the main components present in A. blazei and has been described to be responsible for several therapeutic activities of this mushroom as anti-tumor, anti-diabetic, anti-hyperglycaemic, antimicrobial and protection chemically induced DNA damage in human lymphocytes. On the basis of the results reported by previous studies, further research on the preclinical and clinical trials are encouraged to discover an advanced knowledge about the mechanisms involved behind the therapeutic properties displayed by this mushroom species.
