Abstract:

Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides as the major bioactive components have been attracted tremendous attentions due to their unique health functions. Biological activities and health functions of polysaccharides from Ganoderma lucidum have close relationships with their chemical structures such as molecular weight, glycosidic bond type and polysaccharide composition. Extensive investigations reported that polysaccharides from Ganoderma lucidum played important roles in reducing blood glucose and blood lipid, anti-tumor, immunoregulation and antioxidation functions. Due to many restriction factors of solid cultivation, liquid fermentation has become a major method for producing Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides. However, the optimization of fermentation conditions is one of the critical factors for mass production of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides. Traditional extraction methods for Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides such as hot-water extraction and alkaline extraction have the drawbacks of time-consuming and low extraction efficiency. However, ultrasonic-assisted extraction can remedy those defects, and therefore has attracted more and more attentions.

Key words: Ganoderma lucidum, polysaccharide, chemical structure, fermentation