Influence of the gastrointestinal tract on mushroom biomass: understanding their potential for gut microbiota modulation

Recent research data have suggested the high therapeutical potential of gut microbiota modulation in numerous diseases. Nowadays, fecal transplantation, probiotics and prebiotics supplementation are strategies extensively used in the treatment of several disorders. Prebiotic-rich foods play an important role in gut microbiota modulation. Beyond the rich nutritional value and various biological properties of mushrooms, several species have been described as prebiotics, being defined as “a substrate that is selectively utilized by host microorganisms conferring a health benefit”. Most research works focus on testing extracts or isolated compounds, but a positive synergistic effect between molecules present in mushroom biomass (MB) has also been proposed. MB combines the mycelium and young fruiting bodies. Both parts possess numerous bioactive compounds such as α- and β-glucans. The authors characterized the MB composition of some medicinal and edible species, namely, Trametes versicolor (TV), Hericium erinaceus (HE), and Pleurotus ostreatus (PO) for the first time. The results suggested an interesting nutritional profile, where the main differences between MBs and fruiting bodies are the lower (1→3)(1→6)-β-glucans content (<5% on dry weight - DW) and higher α-glucans and β-glucans with other linkages (>71% DW) in the MBs of TV, HE and PO species. However, it is imperative to assess the influence of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) on their bioactive compounds and resultant impact on gut microbiota modulation, especially α-glucans.