Mushrooms as Functional Foods

It has been over twenty years since the concept of “functional foods” was first introduced as a factor in the analysis of foods after nutrients. Consumers are now deeply interested in food bioactives that provide beneficial effects to humans in terms of health promotion and disease risk reduction. They also demand more
detailed information about food factors in order to obtain appropriate functional food products.

In Asian countries, like China and Japan, mushrooms have been collected and cultivated for hundred of years. They have a long history of use for their health promotion benefits. In recent years reports on the chemistry, and the nutritional and functional properties of mushroom have been overwhelming. In the Journal
of Agricultural and Food Chemistry alone there have been more than 300 articles related to mushrooms published since 1990. However, there is no in-depth comprehensive reference book of mushrooms as functional food available. The current book of Professor C. K. Cheung, Mushrooms as Functional Foods, is a timely and well welcomed book for scientists and students working in functional food research.

Besides covering the agricultural production, nutritional values, and health benefits of mushrooms, this book also introduces emerging molecular analysis and functional genomics to the study of mushroom. Health benefits of mushrooms such as, antioxidative, hypocholesterolemic, and hypoglycemic effects are discussed
in depth. Polysaccharides are the best known and potent mushroom-derived substances with immunomodulating and antitumor activities and this topic has been treated extensively in a separate chapter. Included also is a unique and useful chapter on regulatory issues of mushrooms as functional foods in different countries.

Scientists and students who research mushrooms will certainly benefit from reading this comprehensive monograph to gain in-depth knowledge for the development of mushrooms into functional foods.

CHI-TANG HO

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